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THE 

World^s War Series 

Bj COLONEL JAMES FISKE 

.FIGHTING IN THE CLOUDS FOR FRANCE 
FACING THE GERMAN FOE 
ON BOARD THE MINE-LAYING CRUISER 

UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA 

/ 

THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 
IN RUSSIAN TRENCHES 

Each a stirring tale of adventure amid the 
scenes of the great European conflict. 

Bound in Cloth, 12mo. illustrated. 

Postpaid price, $.50 each 

THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO., 
Akron, Ohio 



4 

i 




“Unless you can prove that you are innocent, you will be tried 
as spies,” said the lieutenant. 


World’s War Series, Volume 5 

The Belgians to the Front 

BY 

Colonel James Fiske 




Illustrated by E. A. FURMAN 


THESAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY 

CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK 




Copyright, 1915 

By 

Tbe Saalfield Pablishing Company 


JUN -7 1915 

©aA401276 


CONTENTS 


iClia.ptcr Pflgo 

I A Discovery 11 

n The Marked Plans 23 

ni The House of Mystery 35 

IV The Flight 47 

'V Pursuit 59 

VI At Headquarters 71 

Vn The Fire 83 

Vin The Uhlan 95 

iX War ? 107 

X Prisoners of War 119 

XI The Spy 131 

Xn A Close Shave 143 

Xin The Civic Guards 155 

XIV Submission 167 

XV The Butcher's Wife 181 

XVI The Wine Shop 195 

Xvn The Battle 207 

XVm Victory 219 


y 




The Belgians To The Front 


CHAPTEBI 

A DISCOVERY 

In the great public square of the ancient city of 
Liege, in Belgium, a troop of Belgian Boy Scouts 
stood at attention. Staffs in hand, clad in the 
short knickerbockers, the khaki shirts and the 
wide campaign hats that mark the Boy Scout all 
over the world, they were enough of a spectacle to 
draw the attention of the busy citizens of Liege, 
who stopped to watch them admiringly. Their 
scoutmaster, Armand Van Verde, had been ad- 
dressing them. And now in the fading light of the 
late afternoon, he dismissed them. 

At once the troop broke up, first into patrols, 
then into small individual groups of two or three. 
The faces of the scouts were grave for it was se- 
rious news indeed that Van Verde had communi- 


11 


12 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


cated to the troop at the meeting just ended. 

Paul Latour called sharply to his great friend, 
Arthur Waller. 

‘^Come on, Arthur,’^ he said. ‘‘We’d better be 
getting along home. There may be something for 
us to do.” 

“All right,” agreed Arthur, cheerfully. He 
was a little younger than his chum, and was nearly 
always willing to agree to anything Paul pro- 
posed. 

The two boys were not natives of Liege. How- 
eyer, they spent their summers with relatives who 
lived in the country a few miles beyond the limits 
of the famous old town, in the direction of the vil- 
lage of Esneux. They themselves came from Brus- 
sels, and, while not themselves related, were both 
cousins of the family which they were now visit- 
ing, that of M. de Prenard. 

So now, striking out with a good, swinging pace, 
they made their way rapidly through the streets 
of the old town of Liege, narrow and crooked, once 
they were beyond the great square. They passed 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


13 


aver the new Exposition Bridge and so to the new 
town of Liege, where the great steel works of 
Seraing were beginning to cast red reflections 
against the darkening sky. 

‘ ‘ They have begun to work all night long, ^ ^ said 
Arthur. 

‘‘It^s a good thing, too,’^ said Paul, soberly. 
‘‘If there is to be a war, as Mr. Van Verde says, we 
may need all the guns they can turn out. ^ ^ 

“But we shall not go to war, Paul! Belgium is 
neutral. All the powers joined in declaring Bel- 
gium to be a neutral state. We have learned that 
in our history in school ! ^ ^ 

“I know that, Arthur. But will the Germans 
respect our neutrality? If they don’t, we shall 
have to defend ourselves against them. And the 
first attack will be here, at Liege. ’ ’ 

“Then these forts that Uncle Henri showed us 
will really be useful? They are strong forts, 
Paul. ’ ’ 

“I hope not. But just because there are forts 
there it is a sign that the government has feared 


14 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


an invasion, Arthur. I hope that if there is war 
we shall stay ont of it. But Belgium has always 
been exposed to war when her great neighbors 
fought. Some of the greatest battles in the his- 
tory of the world have been fought on our soil.” 

‘‘I know! Waterloo was where Napoleon was 
beaten finally. We have seen that battlefield, 
Paul, you and I. Do you think there may be a bat- 
tle there again? That would be exciting! ” ' 

‘‘Waterloo was only one. Ramillies was fought 
in Belgium, too, and many other battles. Even 
Csesar fought here. Do you remember the place 
where he says that of all the tribes he conquered, 
the bravest were the Belgians?” 

“Oh, that’s so! I’d forgotten that! But, Paul, 
you said there might be something for us to do. 
What did you mean ? ” 

“I’m not sure yet, Arthur, and I’d rather not 
say anything more until I am. But I want you to 
slip out with me to-night, after dinner. We’ll find 
out then, for certain. And I don’t want to tell 
Uncle Henri or anyone else, and afterward find I 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


15 


was wrong. We’d be laughed at then, you see.” 

^‘Then you have found something! Oh, tell me, 
Paul! I won’t repeat it to a soul!” 

‘‘You’ll know all in good time. Do you remem- 
ber that man who tried the other day to get work 
as a gardener? ” 

“Yes, I do. Uncle Henri didn’t have any work 
for him, but he sent him to the factory in Seraing, 
and told him they would give him a job.” 

‘ ‘ That ’s the one. You know he said he was hun- 
gry, and that he hadn ’t been able to get any work 
for a long time, so he didn’t have any money. 
Uncle Henri told the cook to give him a dinner. ’ ’ 
“Yes, and I A^as sorry he didn ’t get a place. He 
looked as if he would have been all right. ’ ’ 

“Well, Arthur, I saw him again, last night! He 
was in Esneux, and he seemed to have plenty of 
money, though he hadn’t gone to Seraing to get 
work. He was in Madame Ribet’s wine shop, and 
he was treating everyone. Do you know what he 
paid with ? ’ ’ 

“No.” 


16 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


‘‘A German gold piece! That’s how I know 
about it, because Madame Ribet had never seen 
such a coin before, and she was afraid it wasn’t 
good. So she came out, and when she saw me she 
asked me, and I told her it was good, of course.” 

‘‘Well, that’s nothing, Paul. We often see Ger- 
man money here in Liege. Isn ’t it like that in all 
places that are near a border? I suppose that on 
the other side there is a lot of French money. 
Why, there is, even in Brussels. ’ ’ 

“It may mean nothing at all, Arthur. I hope it 
doesn’t. But I think it’s funny that that man 
should be staying around so. He must have told 
Uncle Henri a lie when he said he didn’t 
have money. I’d like to know what he’s up to. 
I’d like to be sure that he’s not a German spy.” 

“Oh, I never thought of that! A spy! Why 
should the Germans have spies around here, 
though, Paul? ” 

“It’s just the place where they would have 
them, Arthur. The forts! They want to find out 
all they can about them. Boncelles is near us; so 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


17 


is the fort of Embourg. They want to know if onr 
people are ready. If they come through Belgium, 
you know, they will want to get through as quickly 
as they can, to attack the French.^’ 

‘‘But I donT see why they should want to come 
through Belgium at all, Paul. Why canT they 
leave us alone ? They can attack the French along 
their own border, I should think. ’ ’ 

“They But the French know that, and 

they have their strongest fortresses all along 
there, from Belfort to Verdun. It would take the 
Germans weeks, months perhaps, to get past these 
fortifications along the border, and that would 
give the French time to bring up all their soldiers. 
And the Germans have to beat the French 
quickly this time, or else not at all. They arenT 
fighting France alone, but Russia as well, and 
their plan must be to beat France first and then 
turn on Russia. They think that here in Belgium 
it will be easy for them to get around these forts. 
If they once get behind them, the French will have 
to retreat. And the Germans think that the quick- 


18 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


est way to bring that is for them to go through our 
country and so attack Paris. ^ ^ 

'^They ought to be stopped! said Arthur, 
hotly. ‘^England and France would help us, 
wouldn’t they? 

“France certainly would, because she would 
have to. And I believe the English would help, 
too. I hope so. Because even if the Germans 
promised to go away as soon as they’d beaten 
France, I don ’t believe they would. They ’d make 
Belgium a part of Germany. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ They can ’t do that ! They shan ’t ! Why, we ’re 
n ot German ! We ’re a free country ! ’ ’ 

‘ ^ Yes, but we may have to fight to remain free, 
Arthur. Free countries have had to do that be- 
fore. If there is war, I think we shall see the Ger- 
mans here within a day of its declaration. We had 
better hope for peace. But we must be prepared 
for war — and we must not deceive ourselves. A 
treaty guarantees our neutrality, but I think the 
time is coming when treaties will be forgotten.” 
“We shall have to teach these Germans to re- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


19 


member them, then,^^ said Arthur, valiantly. 
^‘We may be weak, but we are brave, we Belgians. 
I believe we can give them something to think 
about. ’ ^ 

Paul smiled a little sadly. He understood the 
true facts, the real possibilities, better than his 
friend. 

‘‘If it comes to fighting, we will do our part,’^ 
he said, “but we should be helpless against Ger- 
many alone, Arthur. The only thing we could do 
would be to try to hold them back long enough for 
the French and the English to come to our aid. 
Either that, or we would have to let them pass 
through without resisting them.^’ 

“So that they could fall on France? But that 
would be treachery^! said Arthur, indignantly. 
“I have heard of that treaty of neutrality. We are 
safeguarded from attack, but we are forbidden to 
allow the troops of a country that is at war to pass 
through our territory. If it was the French who 
talked of invading us to reach Germany, I should 
say that we must fight them. ’ * 


20 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


^^Yes, yoTi^re right, Arthur, said Paul. *'1 
think we should make any sacrifice to keep faith. 
But be sure that it will be a terrible sacrifice, if we 
must make it.^^ 

‘‘Look there! whispered Arthur, suddenly. 
“Someone started up just now from behind the 
bushes. A man — and he is running away from 
us! 

“After him! cried Paul. “It looks — yes, it 
is the man I spoke of! 

They ran as hard as they could, shouting as 
they went, in the hope that someone might inter- 
cept the fugitive. But he had too good a start, 
and in a few moments he had distanced them by 
climbing a rail fence and disappearing into a 
thicket that came down to the edge of a field. 

“No use! ’’ said Paul, disgustedly. “He got 
away from us. But I donT suppose it would have 
done us any good to catch him. We couldnT have 
done anything — hello ! ^ ^ 

He ended with an exclamation of surprise, and 
stooped over. They were at the foot of the fence 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


21 


the flying figure had climbed a moment before. 

“What is it, Paul?’’ asked Arthur, eagerly. 

“This!” said Paul. He held up a small black 
pocket-book, and from it he took a package of 
papers, wrapped in oil silk. “I struck against it 
with my foot I I wonder if that man who was 
running could have dropped it?” 

It was almost dark by this time; too dark, at 
any rate, for them to be able to see the papers. 
But then Arthur remembered the pocket flashlight 
he carried and produced it, switching on the light. 

“Let’s have a look,” he said. 

They unwrapped the oil silk covering. And, at 
the first sight of what was within it, they gasped. 
They were holding in their hands a complete 
sketch of the fort of Boncelles, the most import- 
ant of the works defending Liege to the south- 
west. Before they could examine it more fully 
there was a shout from the fence. The spy had 
missed his papers. They saw him for a moment. 
But now it was their turn to run. 






CHAPTEB n 


THE MARKED PLANS 

The fierce shouting of the man as he called on 
them to stop did not terrify either of the scouts, 
but it did confirm PauPs guess. There could no 
longer be any doubt that his presence meant mis- 
chief; that he was indeed a spy. Or else why 
should he have such papers? Why, again, should 
their loss so greatly disturb him? 

There was not a chance for him to catch them. 
Well as he might know the country, they knew it 
better. They had played in these fields and woods 
since they had been able to walk at all. Every 
hollow, every ridge, every tree, almost, was fa- 
miliar to them. Circling about, they soon reached 
the garden of their summer home, a fine, spacious 
house, with ample grounds surrounding it, that 
belonged to their Uncle Henri de Frenard, whose 
wealth was derived from his considerable hold- 
ings of coal land around Liege. 

2S 


24 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FROxNT 


*‘Did you get a good look at him, PaulT^ 
gasped Arthur, when at last they felt that it was 
safe for them to stop running. ‘ ‘ I couldn ’t really 
make sure of him — 

‘‘I think Idl know him again, Arthur. What 
I’m wondering is if he’ll know us.” 

‘ ^ I don ’t see what difference that makes, except 
that if he saw us before we saw him, it would give 
him a chance to escape — ” 

‘‘We’re more likely to be trying to escape from 
him than he from us, I’m afraid, Arthur, for a 
little while. If the Germans are spying as openly 
as all that, it must mean that they’re getting ready 
to come into Belgium. They wouldn’t take such 
chances unless they felt that it didn’t make any 
difference now. ’ ’ 

“Don’t you think we could find him, Paul? If 
we could, we could have him arrested, I think.” 

“Don’t say a word — yet,” cautioned Paul. 
“Uncle Henri would only laugh at us. Let’s wait 
until we can look at his papers, and see what there 
really is there besides the sketch of Fort Bon- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 25 . 

eelles. If that^s all there was in the papers, I don’t 
see why he was so awfully anxious to get them 
back. Perhaps we’ve done even better than we 
know, Arthur.” 

All right, I won’t say anything,” said Arthur. 
^‘But you are going to do something about it, 
aren ’t you, Paul ? ’ ’ 

Paul laughed. He knew that Arthur was a lit- 
tle disappointed at the idea of having to keep 
what they had done secret, especially as he had 
probably rehearsed already the astonishment 
with which all those at the dinner table would 
greet the startling announcement of the discovery 
of the spy. 

certainly hope we’re going to do something 
about it, Arthur, ’ ’ he said. ^ ^ We ’ll slip away from 
the table as soon as we can, and then when we’re 
alone, we’ll see exactly what it is we’ve got.” 

But at the table there was a great surprise for 
them. Their uncle (though they both called him 
uncle the relationship was not really so close) was 
not in his accustomed seat, and Madame de Fre- 


26 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


nard’s eyes were suspiciously red. She had been 
crying. 

Uncle Henri may not he back for two or three 
days, ’ ’ she said, gravely. ' ‘ He is a member of par- 
li ament, as you know, and he has been called to 
Brussels on account — on account of what we all 
hope may not come.’’ 

‘‘War?” asked Arthur, in a hushed voice. 

‘‘It looks terribly as if war must come,” she 
said. “And if it does, I am afraid our poor Bel- 
gium must suffer as well as the lands that are 
really concerned. We have done nothing; we want 
nothing except to be left alone. If they will only 
do that! But I am afraid we must not hope for 
that. Your uncle expects to join the army at once 
if there is an invasion. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Then we ’ll stay here and look after you, ’ ’ pro- 
posed Arthur, promptly. “Won’t we, Paul?” 

“For as long as we are needed,” Paul said, 
gravely. 

It was easy enough for them to cut their dinner 
short that night. The house was uneasy, stirring 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


27 


with a strange foreboding of what was to come. 
Servants, everyone, indeed, seemed to look al- 
ways toward the east. There were the Germans. 
Often during the summer they drove to Aix-la- 
Chapelle, the first city over the German border — 
Aachen, as the Germans called it. Paul remem- 
bered, with a smile, as he thought of the German 
city, how indignant he had been when he had first 
discovered that the Germans invariably spoke of 
Liege as Luttich, and how he had been appeased 
when he was told that he and most people outside 
of Germany refused to adopt the German name for 
Aix-la-Chapelle. 

No one in the house, least of all their aunt, had 
time that night to think of the two boys. As a 
matter of fact, it was that now famous Saturday 
upon which Germany finally cast the die by de- 
claring war upon Russia in the interest of her 
Austrian ally, whose quarrel with Servia she thus 
made her own, France, as the ally of Russia, was 
bound to fight Germany. Belgium lay between the 
two huge powers on either side of her, well-nigh 


28 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


certain to be caught in the disaster that war 
meant. But the news that war had actually been 
declared had not yet come. Madame de Frenard 
was waiting with the utmost anxiety for a tele- 
phone message from her husband in Brussels, who 
had promised to send her word as soon as there 
were any important developments. 

And so Paul and Arthur slipped out to the ga- 
rage, which was a favorite hiding place. Now it 
was especially safe, since Marcel, the chautfeur, 
had gone to Brussels with their uncle, and there 
was no likelihood of any unwelcome interruptions. 
They repaired, therefore, to the room above the 
one in which their uncle’s automobile was kept, 
and s*pread out the papers they had captured from 
the German spy. First there was the sketch they 
had already seen of the Boncelles fort; then, 
equally detailed, they found sketches and maps of 
the other forts — Flemalle, Embourg, Chaudfon- 
taine, Fleron, Evegnee, Pontisse, Liers, Lanlin, 
Longin and Hollogne — the great chain of de- 
tached forts that made Liege, in the opinion of 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


29 


military engineers, one of the strongest fortified 
towns in Europe. 

These forts were not immediately in the town; 
they were about five miles, on an average, from the 
old citadel, long since disused as a place for actual 
fighting. The connections between the various 
forts, intended, as both boys knew, for the greater 
facility of their defence by means of troops fight- 
ing more or less independently, were carefully 
traced on another map, in which the contour of the 
land and the natural shelter were shown. And on 
this map, at certain spots, there were strange 
marks — well beyond the perimeter of the forts 
themselves, that is, outside the line that might be 
drawn around Liege and passing through each of 
the forts. 

^‘Look at those crosses, said Paul. “What do 
you suppose they mean, Arthur?’^ 

“I donT know,” said Arthur, frowning. “But 
we can find out, you know. ^ ^ 

“You mean by going to one or two of these 
places? They^re some distance off.” 


30 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


^‘But we ought to find out — don’t you think 
so?” 

‘‘Yes, you’re right, of course. We can find them 
easily enough. ’ ’ 

“Yes. All we’ve got to do is to take the map 
along with us. Then when we get near we can 
make sure by looking at it. ” 

“We could do that, but I think we won’t, 
Arthur. Suppose we ran into the man it belongs 
to again? We might not get away from him an- 
other time, and I think it would be just as well to 
leave these maps here. We can hide them, and 
then write a note and leave it where it will be 
found in the morning, telling them where we hid 
the maps.” 

“What’s the use of hiding them if we tell some 
one where they are, Paul?” 

“Can’t you see? Suppose something happens to 
us, so that we can’t get back? We’d want the maps 
to be found and taken to the commander of the 
forts, wouldn’t we?” 

“Of course, I didn’t think of that, that’s alL 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


31 


But if we come back we can get the note back be- 
fore anyone sees it. Is that what you mean, 
Paul?’’ 

^‘Yes. Now study that map very carefully. I 
think we can remember where the cross marks are, 
all right.” 

^ ^ I can remember this one, ’ ’ said Arthur. ^ ‘ It ’s 
exactly on the spot where that new house was 
built last summer, near the Ourthe. Don ’t you re- 
member? We stopped and got some milk there, 
and we wondered how a farmer could build such 
a solid looking house when he didn ’t seem to have 
much money or much of anything else. A stupid 
fellow, he was. He scarcely knew enough to give 
us the milk we wanted. ’ ’ 

^‘Yes, I remember now,” said Paul, looking at 
the map again. He was thinking hard, trying to 
fathom the connection between what they both 
remembered of that house and the strange, signifi- 
cant cross on the map. There was a connection; 
the cross did have some significance. Of so much 
he was sure. But for the life of him that was all 


32 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


lie could guess. It was a perplexing problem. 

‘^Come on,^’ be said, at last, impatiently. 
may be very stupid, but I don ’t understand. The 
only way weTl find out will be by going there. 

‘‘All right, agreed Arthur, grinning. “I^m 
wiser than you for once, Paul. I haven T even tried 
to find out. I know I can’t guess, so I’m not wast- 
ing time trying to. I think we’ll be lucky if we 
find out when we do get there. ’ ’ 

“ So do I, come to think of it, ’ ’ said Paul. Some- 
how he felt better; before he had been inclined to 
blame himself for being stupid. “After all, you 
know, Arthur, even if they didn’t expect anyone 
like us to get hold of these maps and sketches, 
that doesn’t mean that they would make every- 
thing on them so plain that you could guess it at 
first sight. That sort of mark is awfully easy to 
understand when you have the key, but it ’s as bad 
as a cipher if you haven ’t. ’ ’ 

It was quite dark, of course, when they finally 
set out. Though it was Saturday night few people 
were about, and the locality was a lonely one. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


33 


Then, too, all of those who could had gone into the 
town. It was there that news of what was going 
on in the great world outside would first be had; 
it was there that the country people could count 
upon getting the first hint of the intelligence that 
was to have so frightful a meaning for them. 

The course the two scouts took carried them 
along the bank of the placid Ourthe, flowing 
peacefillly, calmly along toward its confluence 
with the more important stream of the Meuse at 
Liege. Behind them one strange thing proved 
that all was not quite normal. From Fort Boncelles 
a searchlight began to play. They had seen that 
light before, but only when it was being tested 
or when there were manoeuvres in progress. Now 
it seemed to have a sinister meaning. 

think that means that there is war,^* said 
Paul. ' ' They are keeping the searchlight going so 
that they may be sure to escape a surprise.’’ 

^ ‘ I think it ’s the Germans who will get the sur- 
prise, ’ ’ said Arthur, confidently. 

But most of the time they walked on in silence. 


34 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FEONT 


Both were thinking a good deal ; thinking, of what 
war might mean, and wondering what part they 
themselves might play if it came. Of one thing 
they were sure. All Belgium would rise to re- 
pel the invader, no matter what the pretext for 
the invasion might be. 

‘ ‘ Here we are, ’ ’ said Arthur, suddenly. ^ ‘ That 
the house, Paul. ’ ^ 

‘Ht looks quite dark, Arthur. But let’s go 
along toward it. Not by the road — we’ll cut 
through this field here.” 

This they proceeded to do. But suddenly, as 
they neared the house, the ground seemed to give 
way beneath Paul. He suppressed a cry, and the 
next moment he was vigorously turning hack the 
treacherous ground with his foot. Arthur turned 
on his light. And there, beneath the soft loam, 
they saw a plate of shining steel. 


CHAPTER m 


THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY 

Utterly bewildered, they stared down at the 
steel. 

‘ ‘ Pnt out your light ! ’ ^ said Paul, suddenly. His 
voice was tense. ‘^Keep still a moment! See if 
you can hear anyone moving around near us. ’ ^ 

They were absolutely still for a full minute, but 
there were only the familiar sounds of the night. 

^‘All right, said Paul. ^‘Now you watch and 
listen while I dig down here and see what this is 
about. ’ ^ 

‘‘Why can^t I dig, tooT^ 

“Because it^s better for you to watch. Besides, 
I want to dig so that I can put the earth back in a 
hurry, and fix this place so that it wonT look as 
if it had been disturbed.’’ 

Then he fell to, working silently and quickly, 
like a mole, digging with his hands until his nails 
were tom and his fingers were raw and bleeding. 

35 


36 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


But Paul did not mind that. He had already made 
a guess, and a shrewd one, as to the meaning of this 
strange discovery that they had made. It was not 
long before he found that the steel plate extended 
for only a short distance. Around this, and 
spreading beneath it, was a bed of cement. As 
soon as he had satisfied himself of that, using Ar- 
thur’s flashlight, Paul stopped digging, and began 
carefully to replace the earth. Then, calling on 
Arthur to help him, he trampled down the earth. 

“There!” he said. “I don’t believe anyone 
would know we had been here, unless they were 
suspicious already. ’ ’ 

“But what is it!” asked Arthur. “Paul, tell 
me!” 

“I’m going to, Arthur. Don ’t worry. But come 
away from here. We don’t want to be caught 
around here — and, besides, there ’s still a good 
deal for us to do.” 

Swiftly they made their way to the road, away 
from the cottage and the field where they had 
made their discovery. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


37 


‘‘Now!” said Arthur, after a little distance had 
been covered, stopping short. “I won’t go a step 
further until you tell me what that place is meant 
for!” 

“It’s meant for a big gun — that’s what it’s 
meant for!” said Paul, vehemently. “Can’t you 
seef A siege gun can’t be fired from a carriage, 
or even from ordinary ground. The recoil would 
bury it in the earth if they tried that. There ’s got 
to be a regular emplacement for it — a firm base of 
concrete and steel, so that it will withstand the 
shock of firing!” 

“You mean they’d mount a gun here?” 

‘ ‘ I mean just that ! It takes days, almost weeks, 
to do that. They have to pour the concrete and 
let it stand until it’s set. But here they’ve got 
everything ready! They can bring up their guns, 
place them, and begin firing, all in less than twen- 
ty-four hours! They must have been preparing 
for this for months — perhaps for years!” 

“The cowards! We’ve never done anything to 
them!” 


38 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


“No, they’re not cowards,” said Paul, thought- 
fully. “I suppose they think they’re right, and 
that as long as that is so, they are justified in us- 
ing any means at all to win. But I think we can 
put a spoke in their wheel, just the same.” 

“I don’t see how, Paul. There aren’t enough 
soldiers in Liege to watch every spot where 
there’s a cross marked on these maps.” 

* ^ No, hut that ’s not the only way, Arthur. ’ ’ 

“It’s the only way to stop them from bringing 
up their siege gun, isn’t it*? I know what the plan 
is in case of an attack. It is for the forts to hold 
off the Germans until there’s time for the French 
army to come up and relieve them. And they’re 
not supposed to be able to stand the fire of heavy 
guns. The plan was made for use against an army 
that wouldn’t have time to bring up its siege 
artillery. ’ ’ 

“Yes, that’s true enough. But, just the same, 
I think we can help. I’m so sure of it that I’m go- 
ing to take these plans into Liege to-night and try 
to get them to General Leman. ’ ’ 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


59 


witli you, Paul! Are we to go nowV* 

^‘Not quite yet. I^m interested in this house, 
too. I want to find out whatever we can about it 
before we go in. Don’t you see what our finding 
that gun mounting means, Arthur? Finding it 
just where we did — in a field that belongs to that 
house?” 

‘‘You mean there may be spies there now?” 

‘ ‘ I don ’t say that they ’re there now. But I think 
they have been there. And I know I’m going to 
find out all we can.” 

“All right. I think we ought to do that, too. 
Let’s get along! It’ll be awfully late when we get 
into Liege, I’m afraid.” 

The house that had suddenly assumed such an 
air of mystery, so great an importance, was dark 
as they approached. Not a light showed from its 
windows. But they took no chances, none the less. 
They got very close to it without detection; they 
were able to go up to the windows. And, listen- 
ing there, they heard not a sound inside to indicate 
that anyone was within. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


-10 

‘‘I’m going in,” said Paul, suddenly. “Let 
me have your light, Arthur.” 

‘ ‘ Can ’t I come in, too ? ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ One of us must stay outside and keep watch, ’ ’ 
said Paul. “It’s the hardest part of the job, Ar- 
thur. If you stay outside, watch carefully, es- 
pecially near the door. Hide, so that you won’t 
he seen, but in a place where you can see anyone 
who comes. And if anyone is coming, call like a 
quail. I’ll be listening, and I’ll slip out of this 
back window and get back to you. But if they 
catch me, go back and get the plans, and then 
hurry into Liege. Tell General Leman, if you can 
get to him, or a staff officer, if you can ’t, everything 
that has happened since we found these papers, 
whether it seems important to you or not. Some- 
thing that may not seem to mean anything at all 
may really be very important. ’ ’ 

“But it seems to me you’re taking all the risk,” 
protested Arthur. “That isn’t fair.” 

“It’s just as risky outside as in,” said Paul. 
“Here goes! Off with you, now, and find a good 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


41 


place to hide! We haven’t any time to lose, I can 
tell you. If there’s no one inside now, they won’t 
leave a place like this deserted very long, I’m 
sure. ’ ’ 

Arthur went off reluctantly, but, as usual, he 
obeyed Paul to the letter. He found a clump of 
bushes from which, without being seen himself, he 
could watch the door of the house, and there he 
crouched down to wait. It was dull work, and, af- 
ter he had once settled himself, he was afraid to 
move lest unseen eyes be watching somewhere in 
the neighborhood. 

Meanwhile Paul was busy getting into the 
house. It was easier than he had thought it likely 
to be. The catch on the window was simplicity 
itself and he forced it with his penknife without 
any difficulty at all. 

feel like a burglar,” he thought to himself, 
as he climbed in. ^^But I don’t care. Even if 
there’s nothing wrong in here, I’ve got the 
right, in a time like this, to make sure. Every Bel- 
gian has to think of his country first now.” 


46 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


And he was pretty sure that there was a decided 
connection between this cottage, so strangely 
stout in its construction, and the unquestionably 
threatening and sinister discovery he and Arthur 
had made in the field only a stone’s throw away. 

Inside, he found himself in a large room that 
took up all save a very small part of the ground 
floor of the cottage. To the left there was a wall, 
and in it an open door — he could see that much 
through the very faint light that filtered through 
the windows. Seemingly, he was in luck. There 
was absolutely nothing to make him doubt that he 
was alone in the house. Everything was still. 
There was not even the ticking of a clock, the one 
sound he might reasonably have expected to hear 
even in a temporarily deserted house. But he 
waited for quite a minute, to make sure that no one 
was about. He felt certain that, had anyone been 
there, he would have heard breathing, no matter 
how anxious the other occupant of the house 
might be to conceal his presence. 

Then he switched on the light, shielding it with 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


43 


his hand, so that no reflection of its faint glow 
should betray him, by means of the windows, to 
anyone approaching from outside. 

About the big room in which he found himself 
there was nothing to excite suspicion at first sight. 
The room seemed ordinary enough; the usual liv- 
ing-room of a peasant. One thing was curious; he 
could see a trap door, evidently leading to a cellar 
below. But that he reserved for later inspection, 
preferring at first to look upstairs. He reached 
the second floor by the stairs; there, too, there 
seemed at first nothing out of the ordinary. But 
when he threw aside all scruples and looked every- 
where, he found something that confirmed some 
at least of his suspicions — a bundle of letters, all 
written in German script. He did not stop to read 
the letters, but on the chance that they might con- 
tain something that would prove valuable or im- 
portant, he slipped them into his pocket. 

As yet, however, he had made no real discovery. 
The letters might prove a great deal ; for the mo- 
ment he was obliged to leave them unread, since 


44 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


his time might prove to be very short. Down he 
went, light out, pausing in the big living-room to 
listen for some sound from the watcher outside. 
There was none. 

Now he lifted the trap door, and found, as he had 
been sure he would, a ladder leading to the cellar 
below. He hesitated for a moment now. There 
seemed to be no safe way of propping up the trap 
door. To descend, closing it after him, meant that 
he would be shut into the cellar, where he could not 
hear the warning signal from Arthur, should it be 
sounded. But his hesitation lasted only a minute. 

‘Ht^s a chance, but I’ve got to take it,” he said 
to himself. “After all, I haven ’t really found any- 
thing anywhere else. The cellar’s the last place to 
look — and the most likely, too.” 

One thing was a relief ; when he was safely down 
he could turn on his light, unafraid. From the cel- 
lar, without a window, with no means of egress 
save that by which he had entered it, there was no 
danger that a stray beam of light would betray 
his presence to the lawful dwellers in this cottage, 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


45 


should they chance to return while he was there. 
And what he saw in the light when he switched it 
on was ample reward for his daring in braving the 
dangers of the place. 

The place was an arsenal! Arranged against 
one wall were the parts of three powerful guns, 
all ready to be assembled. And all about, neatly 
stacked, were shells. He lo'oked at them, pointing 
his light at them, to make sure. They bore the 
stamp of the Krupp works at Essen in Germany, 
the world-famous works whence the greater part 
of German munitions of war come. 

Here was a discovery indeed! The Germans 
were ready to attack Liege. Of that there could 
no longer be even the shadow of a doubt. Not only 
had they prepared a place for the reception of 
guns; they had even smuggled the guns them- 
selves over the border. It was, as he could see, not 
a matter of really great difficulty. The border was 
not far distant; the guards, on the Belgian side 
at least, had had no great reason in the past year 
or so to be especially vigilant. But Paul was hor- 


46 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


rifled by this proof of the determination of the 
great power to the east and north not to hesitate 
to invade Belgium, should that course be neces- 
sary to enable it to reach its most formidable 
antagonist, France. 

There was something horrible and cold-blooded 
about such minute preparation. He was thrilled 
by his discovery. No less was he thrilled by the 
feeling that it was within his power now really to 
serve the land he loved. He was not old enough to 
be a soldier, but he felt that if he could get back to 
Liege with the information that he and Arthur 
had garnered that night they might serve Belgium 
as well as soldiers could do. 

Light in hand, he made his way back to the lad- 
der. Then he switched off the light and started to 
climb the ladder. And as he did so, he stopped, 
appalled. Above there was the sound of a closing 
door; then heavy footsteps sounded on the trap 
door over his head. 


CHAPTER rV 


THE FLIGHT 

From his hiding place outside the cottage, 
Arthur had been watching faithfully while Paul 
explored the inside. He heard the steps that her- 
alded the approach of a man, and whistled at once, 
imitating the cry of a quail, since he thought it 
better to take the chance of giving a false alarm 
than of letting his chum be trapped inside. But it 
was already too late, as it turned out. Paul had 
gone down into the cellar and let the door fall be- 
hind him. So Arthur ^s warning fell on deaf ears. 

The steps came nearer, and Arthur, wondering 
why Paul did not appear, and only half guessing 
the reason, whistled louder. It was hard for him 
to refrain from dashing at once to the rescue. But 
after a moment’s thought he realized that this 
would do Paul no good, and that it was all im- 
portant for him to remain free, so that, if Paul was 
made a prisoner, he could carry the news to Liege 

47 


48 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


and so serve not only Belgium, but Paul, since that 
would be PauPs only chance of rescue. At least 
so it seemed then. 

Now the man whose approach had alarmed Ar- 
thur came in sight. He was trudging along, look- 
ing like a veritable peasant. But now, in the light 
of the suspicions that had been aroused that day, 
Arthur could see things about this man that dis- 
tinguished him from the Flemish dwellers in the 
neighborhood, 

‘Hie is a German!^’ he thought. “What shall 

Idor^ 

For the moment he could do literally nothing. 
He could only lie still and watch the man go up to 
the front door of the cottage and unlock it. But 
then, after the German had gone in, Arthur saw 
that there was still a light — a light that became 
visible as soon as the pretended peasant lighted 
his lamp. Plainly the door had not been quite 
closed; the little streak of light showed that. 

Arthur waited breathlessly for some sign that 
PauPs presence had been discovered. But none 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FEONT 


49 


came. He was close enough to the door to hear 
the man in the cottage stamping about, and he 
could guess, of course, that Paul was concealed in 
some fashion. He had even the idea of the cellar 
but of course he could not be sure that Paul was 
not above — safe as long as it did not enter the 
German’s head to climb the stairs. At any rate, 
Arthur was grateful for a respite, no matter how 
brief it might prove to he. Almost anything was 
better than the actual knowledge that his chum 
had been caught. 

‘‘While there’s life, there’s hope!” he said to 
himself, grimly. 

But it was a good deal easier for him to deter- 
mine that he would make some sort of effort to re- 
lease his chum than it was for him to discover a 
practical way of doing so. He had the feeling that 
at any cost to Paul he must secure his own free- 
dom; that was the thing that Paul had impressed 
most vividly on his mind. At last he determined 
to risk a trip to the window by which Paul had 
made his entrance. He wanted to look inside; to 


50 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


Bee, at least, what was going on. Then some means 
of helping Paul might suggest itself. 

Of course Arthur had seen nothing of the inside 
of the room, since it had been dark when Paul had 
climbed in. Now the first thing he saw after the 
man of the house himself, was the trap door that 
led to the cellar. He understood at once that Paul 
must be down there. 

^‘That’s why he didnT hear me, of course!’^ he 
said to himself. ‘‘Now to get him outi’’ 

Suddenly, just as he was about to leave the win- 
dow, Arthur was startled into a stifi^ and rigid 
halt by the sound of a heavy knock on the door of 
the cottage. The German inside, busy just then in 
cutting up a huge sausage that was evidently to be 
his dinner, seemed to be almost as startled as Ar- 
thur himself. He jumped up, upsetting his chair, 
and flung the door open. At once his whole man- 
ner changed. He started back, then stitfened him- 
self and stood at attention. A young man, dressed 
in a uniform of a greenish-gray cloth that Arthur 
had never seen before, and covered now with dust, 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


51 


walked in. Arthur could scarcely believe his 
eyes. Everything about the newcomer pointed to 
the fact that he was a German officer, for if the 
color of the uniform was unfamiliar, its cut was 
not. But a German officer in uniform here! 

‘ ‘ Zu befehl, Herr Hauptmann ! ’ ’ said the man of 
the cottage. 

^Ht^s come, Froebel,’^ said the captain. He 
stretched his arms, as if glad of the chance. ‘HVe 
had a fine trip from Aachen! The worst roads I 
ever tried to push a motorcycle over! But I^m 
here — so that’s even! There are more coming. 
General von Emmich’s army is on the march al- 
ready. We have even now taken possession of 
Luxembourg. To-night the Belgian government 
finally, declined to give us the right to move our 
troops through their little toy country! So we 
must fight them, too. ’ ’ 

“I’m not sorry,” said Froebel. Some of the 
stiffness had gone out of his manner. “ I ’ll be glad 
to get a chance to do some fighting instead of this 
eternal spying! And who knows? If I am lucky, 


52 


THE- BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


I may get a little swifter promotion than I had 
hoped for.’' 

‘^Oh, I forgot,” said the other. ‘‘Congratula- 
tions, Froehel! You have your captaincy, and a 
staff detail. That’s unofficial, of course. ButIVe 
seen the order. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Good, ’ ’ said Froehel, impassively. ‘ ‘ But if you 
stay with the line, Poertner, you ’ll be a colonel be- 
fore I’m a major. Enough — to business! I have 
bad news.” 

‘ ‘ Bad news ? What sort ? ’ ’ 

“ It ’s that clumsy fool Bidder! He has been map- 
ping the whole field of operation here, as you 
know — details of the forts, and the location of all 
the concealed gun mountings and platforms we 
have put in in case the Belgians should be foolish 
enough to try to stop us by force. ” 

“Yes, yes! What of it?” 

“Eh? He had those papers — those simply in- 
valuable papers! And he was alarmed by two 
Belgian boys in Boy Scout uniform — thought 
they were soldiers coming to arrest him! He took 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


53 


to his heels and naturally, being boys, they fol- 
lowed ! He dropped his papers going over a fence ! 
When he missed them he went back. But he found 
no trace of them. He is sure that the two boys got 
them. ’ ^ 

‘^Donnerwetter! That^s a bad business, Froe- 
bel! I fear for our friend Bidder! The intelligence 
department will not be altogether pleased by this. 
But what if the boys have them? Is there a 
chance, do you think, that they will understand 
them?” 

“Who knows? Some devil might lead them to 
take them to a Belgian officer! However — even 
so, there is this much of good about it. There is 
no time for them to do anything. They canT get 
at our gun platforms. If they had a week! But 
you say General von Emmich is already on the 
march ? That means that war has been declared ? ’ ^ 

'‘No, only that it has begun,” said Poertner, 
with a smile. "It is no longer the fashion to de- 
clare war formally — unless the enemy is like Rus- 
sia with us — so far away that we can T strike 


54 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


first. No. The modern way is to begin fighting 
and let the other side declare war. So they seem 
to take the aggressive. ^ ’ 

see/’ said Froebel. ‘‘Well, at any rate, it is 
the time I am thinking of. They are fairly well 
prepared here at Liege. The forts are in order; 
they have good men, and plenty of ammunition for 
their guns. But against our Krupp pieces — ’ ’ 

He laughed to express the chance that the stout 
forts of Liege were to have against the German ar- 
tillery. And outside Arthur, listening, ground his 
teeth. He was glad that he had come; already he 
had learned facts likely to prove of the first im- 
portance. No matter how well the garrison of 
Liege was prepared for any emergency, it would 
be vastly helpful to know when the blow might be 
expected to fall. It is one thing to be prepared for 
a trouble that may come some day; it is quite an- 
other to know that it is imminent, and to make 
plans accordingly. 

In Arthur’s mind an idea now began to take 
root. The voices of the two Germans inside died 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


55 


away, and he seized the opportunity to make his 
way quietly to the front of the cottage. There, ly- 
ing on its side, was the motorcycle of which the 
new arrival had spoken. Arthur had ridden mo- 
torcycles himself, and now he went up to this one 
and examined it carefully. He found that while 
it was different from the ones he had ridden, the 
points of difference were really trifling and that he 
could understand it easily enough. 

Then he went back for another peep in the win- 
dow. The two German officers were busily en- 
gaged now in eating, and were washing down the 
sausage, amid a good deal of laughter at the rough 
fare, with two bottles of wine. 

“When we have finished,’^ said Poertner, “we 
will have a look at your little arsenal below.’’ 

“It’s a real arsenal,” said Froebel, proudly. 
“That was rather well managed, I think. We have 
managed to bring in the guns, one part at a time 
and the ammunition piecemeal, in the same way. 
These stupid Belgians never even suspected. It is 
only just lately that they have even begun to 


56 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


dream that there might be danger for them if it 
came to war. Before they woke up everything 
was here!*^ 

‘^Well, your guns will be at work before many 
hours if all goes well/’ said Poertner. ^‘This sau- 
sage of yours is not so bad, after all ! Food is food 
when you are hungry! Ah, it will be some time, 
at best, before we can eat again in Berlin, my 
friend!” 

^^Yes. There will be garrison work, even after 
we have taken Paris. Still, even so, it should not 
be so long. Three weeks perhaps — that should 
be enough to beat the French this time. We are 
better prepared than we were in 1870.” 

‘‘So are they, I hear. Well, they couldn’t be 
worse off than they were then! No matter, though 
— we shall outnumber them from the start. Will 
the English fight, do you think?” 

“Pah — the English! No! They will be too 
busy with their troubles at home. They will have 
a rebellion on their hands in Ulster. No, England 
will have too many troubles of her own at home, 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


57 


to be able to cross the sea to look for more/’ 

Arthur had heard all he needed. Now he drew 
back from the window, picking up several good- 
sized stones as he did so. And when he was some 
distance away, but still able to see the two Ger- 
mans, he stopped and waited. 

He waited until the two officers had finished 
their meal and had risen. Even then he waited 
until they moved, together, to the trap door. Then, 
raising his arm, he let fly the first of his stones. 
It crashed through the window, shattering the 
glass. At once he threw another, and then still 
another. He had counted, and not in vain, on the 
instinct that would move the two Germans. With 
a single motion they leaped to the door. As they 
did so, even as they rushed out, he ran diagonally, 
so as to get away from them, toward the front of 
the house. As they stormed around in the direc- 
tion from which he had thrown the stones, and so 
out of sight of the front of the house, he stopped. 
They passed within half a dozen feet of him, but, 
naturally, they had not expected him to come right 


58 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


toward them, and they passed him unnoticed. 

Then, as soon as they were out of sight, he made 
for the cottage. He meant to call Paul. But Paul 
was at the door as he reached it for he had under- 
stood, from what he had been able to hear, some- 
thing of what had happened. 

‘ ‘ Come on ! Here ’s a motorcycle we can take ! ’ ’ 
cried Arthur, eagerly. 

He lifted the machine. In a moment he had 
started the motor, and Paul leaped up behind him 
as he got it going. 

‘ ‘ Hurry I Here they come ! ’ ’ shouted Paul. 

The put-put of the motor had aroused the Ger- 
mans to what was going on. Now they stormed 
back around the cottage. They were just in time 
to see the motorcycle being ridden madly off; in 
time, too, to fire a couple of shots apiece from their 
pistols. But their aim was bad ; the boys heard the 
bullets whistling over their heads. In less than a 
minute they were safe ! 


GHAPTEE V 


PURSUIT 

They had no thought of any further danger, as 
they sped along the road on the stolen — or, 
rather, the captured motorcycle. The road was 
smooth and good. There was nothing to detain 
them. Behind them the furious shouts of the Ger- 
mans, even the firing, died away, until the only 
sound they could hear was the noise of the engine. 
The machine was a good one, evidently built for 
the hard work of an army in the field. 

Before them now was the searchlight from Fort 
Boncelles, picking up one patch of darkness after 
another, flooding it suddenly with light, and then 
passing on to the next, swinging about endlessly 
in a great arc, so that the slightest movement that 
was out of the ordinary was sure to be seen. From 
time to time the great beam of light struck the 
road, before them or behind them. Then they 
were in the midst of it, riding in a sea of light. The 

59 


60 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


searchlight winked off, came back to them, and 
went with them for nearly half a mile. 

^‘They Ve spotted us, Arthur!” said Paul, with 
a laugh. ^‘Well, I hope theyh'e not frightened!” 

‘‘They must want to make sure of what we’re 
doing, I suppose, Paul! Look at the other lights! 
It’s a great sight when they all swing up together, 
isn’t it?” 

From the forts that ringed the ancient city the 
darting searchlights swept the heavens. At times 
all of them met, for a moment, making a blinding 
reflection against the sky. They would stay thus ; 
then, one after another, the lights would go swoop- 
ing down, keeping their vigil. Behind each were 
watchful eyes, ready to report immediately the 
first, the slightest sign of what might come now at 
any moment. 

‘ ‘ Those searchlights make the idea of war seem 
more real than anything else has, Paul,” said 
Arthur. 

Paul gave a short laugh. 

“If you’d seen those shells and the parts of the 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


61 


guns, all ready to be put together in that cellar, 
you wouldn ’t say that ! ^ ’ he exclaimed. ^ ‘ And how 
about the German officer — in uniform, on the soil 
of a friendly country? That’s almost an act of 
war itself, Arthur! He has no business here!” 

‘ ‘ I don ’t see what difference it makes, Paul. If 
they’re coming, there’ll be so many more that one 
more or less won’t count.” 

“Well, they’re coming! I’m more sure of that 
than ever since we found that house. I say, 
Arthur, I think you’d better stay right out here in 
the road with the motorcycle, while I run in and 
get the plans. If we both went, we might be 
caught — and I don ’t want to have to explain any- 
thing until we’ve told what we know to the staff 
officers. ’ ’ 

“All right, Paul. But don’t be long.” 

“I won’t! Here we are! Now you wait — and 
I ’ll get back just as soon as I can. ’ ’ 

It was an easy matter, as it turned out, for Paul 
to slip into the grounds and retrieve the plans. But 
it took time, and time, had he only known it, was 


62 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the one thing he could not afford to waste just 
then. Somehow neither he nor Arthur had given 
a further thought to the two Germans they had so 
cleverly eluded in the mysterious cottage. They 
had felt that these two enemies, at least, might be 
counted out for that night. 

And so Paul, returning to the spot where he had 
left Arthur, took no particular pains to conceal 
himself. He called out as he vaulted the low wall 
between the grounds of his uncle’s place and the 
road. 

^Ht was easy!” he cried. “No one was about. 
They’re probably so excited that they haven’t 
even missed us yet! Start your engine! We’ve 
got to hurry now. ’ ’ 

Arthur tried to obey. But there was some slight 
hitch in the starting of the engine. Then the 
spark worked, and the motor began to throb. The 
cycle started; Paul leaped up to his place behind. 
And then, behind them, came a sudden roar, the 
sound of another motorcycle, and a flash of light 
swept over them. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


63 


‘‘Stop!” cried a voice — a voice they knew! It 
was one of the Germans! 

“Go on! Hurry!” cried Paul. “Perhaps we 
can get away from them — we^re ahead, any- 
how ! ^ ’ 

The motorcycle leaped forward now, but from 
behind they could still hear the barking of the ex- 
haust of the other machine, and the excited cries 
of the Germans. Luck was with them, however, 
for just at that most critical of moments some- 
thing must have gone wrong with the pursuing 
machine. The noise of its motor ceased behind 
them. The shouting continued, but only one voice 
was raised. Plainly the other man was busy. 
While their luck held, Arthur pushed the machine 
at the best speed he could get out of it. And it 
was well that he did, since the trouble with the 
other motor was soon mended. It sprang into 
sputtering life again behind them. But now they 
had a good lead and were racing on toward the 
forts, toward the circle of wide swinging search- 
lights. 


64 THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

‘^How are we getting on, Paul?’’ asked Arthur. 
“Are we gaining 

“I^m afraid — no, weVe not. They’re coming 
along awfully fast. That must he a much more 
powerful machine than this. ’ ’ 

“I don’t think it’s that. I’m awfully afraid 
that our gasoline is running low! That German 
must have ridden a long way. Probably he ex- 
pected to fill his tank back there! There’s so 
much noise that I’m not sure, but I’m afraid one 
cylinder is missing. That’s what is making us 
slower.” 

Over their heads now a bullet sang out sharply. 
There could be no doubt about it at all, now; the 
other motorcycle was rapidly making up lost 
ground. Then while they still raced on, and when 
the other machine was less than a hundred yards 
behind, the whole road was paved in light again, 
as the Boncelles searchlight swung around and 
down, and was focused full on the chase. 

Still the other cycle gained, but there were 
no more shots. The reason for that was made 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


65 


plain in a few moments by a call to surrender. 

‘^They’re only boys!^’ one of the Germans had 
yelled to the other. “We can catch them. Don’t 
let’s hurt them.” 

And then, with the distance between the two 
machines being reduced every minute, they could 
hear one of the Germans shouting to them. 

“Stop! Surrender!” he cried. “You can’t es- 
cape — we’re gaining all the time! If you stop 
now, you won’t be hurt!” 

Then the searchlight swung away, and in that 
same moment Paul had an inspiration. He re- 
membered that in his pocket was a glass flask that 
had contained water. He took this out now, and 
broke it against the steel frame of the motorcycle. 
The fragments cut his fingers, but he ignored the 
cuts and the flow of blood. At the risk of hurting 
himself still more, he broke the fragments again 
in his hand. Then he began dropping the sharp 
pieces of glass. And in a minute he had his re- 
ward. From behind came two sharp explosions, 
and looking back, he saw the other motorcycle 


66 THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

swerve and fall. The two riders went sprawling. 

^‘Get all you can out of her, Arthur!’’ he 
shouted. ‘‘I spilled them. The glass punctured 
both their tires! That was luck! It won’t stop 
them for long, but it ’s given us a little more time. 
I don’t believe they’ll put on new tires, even if 
they’re carrying them. And if they don’t, it will 
make them much slower. You can’t go so fast on 
rims as you can on rubber tires!” 

*^That was fine! I never thought of doing 
that!” exclaimed Arthur. do believe it’s go- 
ing to save us, too. We can’t be more than a mile 
and a half from Boncelles now.” 

We ’ll get there — unless our gasoline gives 
out altogether before that, Arthur. And it may. 
The engine is certainly missing all the time, now. 
Oh, if it will only hold out ! ’ ’ 

Their speed was greatly reduced, now. And 
from behind the other motor started again. 

‘ ‘ I admire those Germans ! ’ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘ A good 
many people wouldn’t keep at it the way they’re 
doing. It’s no joke to ride on a motorcycle with 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


67 


both tires gone. They’ll remember to-night for 
some time, I think! They’ll be sore and shaken to 
pieces before they’re done.” 

^‘They’ll be better off than their machine,” said 
Arthur, philosophically. There won’t be enough 
of that left to sell for junk if they ride it very far 
in that condition. ’ ’ 

‘‘Well, I don’t believe they’ll care about that, if 
they only catch us and get the plans — ” 

It was a sudden lurch of the machine, accom- 
panied by a sputtering and a stopping of the mo- 
tor, that interrupted him. The two scouts sprang 
off just in time, steadying the machine. 

“Drop it! Into the fields here!” cried Paul. 
“We can’t run any longer. We must try to elude 
them by tricking them. Come on ! ” 

And so they were obliged to abandon the ma- 
chine that had served them so well, leaving it ly- 
ing in the road. They ran across a ditch that bor- 
dered the road, and into a field where they man- 
aged to conceal themselves in a hedge. They could 
still see the white road, and the collapsed motor- 


68 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


cycle, but there was a chance, even if it was a slim 
one, that they themselves would not be seen. 

Arthur wanted to run across the field, but Paul 
stopped him. 

^‘That’s what theydl expect us to do, isn^t it?’’ 
he said. ‘^And, besides, they could see us. There’s 
no shelter for a long way. Here they may over- 
look us, just because we’re so close — and it’s the 
only chance we have, anyhow.” 

‘‘Here they come!” cried Arthur, and crouched 
down, staring. For a moment it seemed that the 
pursuers might ride straight by, and Paul groaned 
suddenly. 

“We ought to have dragged the machine in 
here with us!” he said. ‘Then I don’t believe 
they’d have known we had stopped for quite a 
distance! I never thought of it, though, and now 
it’s too late!” 

It was too late, indeed, for the other machine 
stopped within a few feet of the overturned cycle. 

“Ha! Now we’ll have them! They can’t have 
gone far!” said one of the Germans. “Accursed 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


69 


boys! They have given me a fright!^’ 

‘‘Yon haven T caught us yet!’’ whispered Paul, 
defiantly. 

It was true, as the Germans soon discovered. 
For when they began looking for the two boys, 
they found that it was one thing to know that they 
must be somewhere about, and quite another to 
find out just where. They did not begin to look 
immediately in the field, but went along the road, 
toward Liege, evidently looking for footprints. 
Then when they did take to the field, they crossed 
the ditch fully a hundred yards further along the 
road. 

‘ ‘ Come on ! ” said Paul, suddenly. “We got one 
of their machines — why shouldn’t we take the 
other?” 

Arthur saw the point as quickly as Paul. The 
carelessness of the two Germans had once more 
given them an opportunity. In a moment they 
dashed out, and, just as the Germans, with a yell 
of fury, saw them, they were off. Bullets flew 
about them, but they bent low over the machine, 


70 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


and they were going fast. Still two bullets found 
their mark, one puncturing the rear tire, the other 
perforating the gasoline tank. Once more they 
seemed to be caught. And then a searchlight 
swept down upon them again. But this time it 
was not the great light from Boncelles. It was the 
huge headlight of an automobile, and behind it 
they saw an armored car. Soldiers sprang from it, 
and in a moment the tables had been completely 
turned. 

It was the two German officers who were made 
prisoners, while officers eagerly pressed about the 
scouts, asking question upon question. 

‘‘I must be taken to General Leman at once,’’ 
said Paul, stoutly. ‘‘We have information of the 
utmost importance. ’ ’ 

The Belgian officers laughed at him at first. But 
he was so earnest and persistent that he had his 
way at last. 


CHAPTER VI 


AT HEADQUARTERS 

The armored automobile, a queer looking affair 
with its machine guns and its steel parapets, 
pierced with holes through which rifles could be 
fired, made good time on the way hack to Liege. 
It was really a fairly large motor lorry, converted 
very readily from a commercial use to its new pur- 
pose, and even the untrained eyes of the two scouts 
could see that it was likely to prove a formidable 
weapon in time of war. 

‘ ‘ It would take a heavy gun to stop it. Rifle fire 
wouldn’t bother us at all, you see,” explained one 
of the Belgian officers. ^ ‘ Even the driver is thor- 
oughly protected, because he could only be shot 
from above. I expect we’ll have a lot of use for 
these.” 

‘‘Are there many of them?” 

“ Not so many here. We don’t need them. But 

at Brussels, where the field army is being mo- 
71 


72 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


bilized now, there are a lot, and all through the 
open country where there will probably be a good 
deal of fighting. ’ ’ 

‘‘Will the Germans get so far?’^ 

“They^re sure to. We’ll hold Liege with a 
small force as long as we can. But you must re- 
member that they can send a million men against 
us! We’re not supposed to beat them — no one 
expects us to do that. All we have to do is to hold 
them back as long as possible. ’ ’ 

“But if there are so many of them, why can’t 
they go right around us here ? ’ ’ 

“They can, and they probably will. But even 
80, they’ll have to account for the fortress of Liege 
and of Namur, as well, before they can get so very 
far.” 

“That’s what I don’t quite understand,” said 
Arthur. ‘ ‘ It seems to me that unless we have sol- 
diers enough here to stop them they could go right 
on without bothering about Liege at all. ’ ’ 

“You haven’t studied strategy yet, I can see, 
my scout!” said the officer, with a laugh. “But 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


73 


I’ll try to explain. You see, the Germans want to 
reach France — to conquer the French army and 
capture Paris, as they did in 1870. Then they went 
right through Alsace and Lorraine — beat the 
French around Metz, locked up the beaten army 
in that fortress, heat the only other army France 
had and captured it at Sedan, and then walked 
right through to Paris.” 

‘‘Yes, I’ve read of that,” said Arthur. “They 
didn’t go through Belgium then, either.” 

“They didn’t have to. But since then, you see, 
the French have learned their lesson. They’ve got 
the most powerful fortified line in the world, I 
suppose, all the way from Belfort to Verdun. It 
would take the Germans weeks to break through 
there, and by that time the whole French army 
would be mobilized behind that line of fortresses, 
and ready for them. If they were only fighting 
France they might try it. But now they’ve got to 
fight France and Russia too. And the only chance 
they have is to beat France even more quickly 
than they did in 1870. I happen to know that their 


74 THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

plans require them to capture Paris within six 
weeks.” 

‘‘Six weeks! Do you think they can do it?” 

“ No ! Not if we do our part I And if they don ’t, 
they^re likely to fail altogether. Because then 
Russia will have had time to mobilize, and more 
than half of the German army will have to help the 
Austrians to hold back the Russians from Vienna 
and Berlin. What theyh’e counting on, you see, 
is smashing France, so that they can hold only a 
few corps back on this side, and throw all the rest 
of their army against Russia. Then they’d have 
a chance — more than a chance.” 

“But still I don’t understand about Liege yet, 
and why it’s so important,” said Arthur. 

“I’m coming to that. Now, to get at the French, 
they’ve got to go through Belgium. Well, they’ve 
got to supply their armies. They’ve got to send 
guns, and ammunition, and food from Germany. 
To do that they have to keep their line of commu- 
nication open. Liege is right on one of their im- 
portant lines of communication — the one that 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


75 


really starts at Aix-la-CIiapelle, just across the 
border. Liege, if it wasn’t reduced, or at least 
‘masked’ — that means surrounded — would 
threaten these communications all the time. We 
could raid the railway^ for instance. And if com- 
munications are interrupted, even for a day or so, 
it may mean the loss of*a battle. They use a fright- 
ful lot of ammunition, for instance, in a modern 
battle. And if troops didn’t get their supplies, 
they might be crushed utterly. That’s why we’ll 
hold them back.” 

Meanwhile the armored car was approaching 
Liege. And now they were near the old citadel, 
where, as both the scouts knew. General Leman 
had established his headquarters. 

“I don’t know whether the General will see 
you,” said a •captain, doubtfully. “But you can 
see one of his staif, anyway. Won’t that do? He 
can decide whether what you have is important. ’ ’ 

“Yes, and I think he’ll take us to the General 
when he hears our story, ’ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘ But please 
hurry! There really isn’t any time to be lost.” 


76 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FEONT 


speak to Major du Chaillu/^ promised the 
captain. ‘‘I think he ^11 be able to arrange matters 
for you.^’ 

After a short delay, Major du Chaillu, a tall, 
harassed looking man, under whose eyes there 
were great, dark circles as if he had not slept for 
many weary hours, received them in his office. He 
was busy with a great map of Liege and the sur- 
rounding forts, on which he was arranging and 
rearranging many small flags, 

^^Now tell me briefly what you have discov- 
ered,^^ he said, his manner quick and abrupt. It 
was plain that exhaustion had made him nervous. 

‘‘We have found out that the Germans have se- 
cretly prepared foundations for heavy guns all 
around Liege, sir, ^ ^ said Paul, quietly. 

“What?’^ The major spun around and stared 
at them. 

Paul repeated the statement, and produced the 
packet of papers they had gone through so much 
to retain. 

“We didn’t know what these marks meant,” he 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


77 


explained. ^ ‘ So we decided to try to find out. And 
when we reached the place that was marked on 
this map we found not only a concrete and steel 
foundation for a big gun, hut some smaller guns, 
all ready to be assembled and a store of ammuni- 
tion. ’ * 

‘‘Tell me exactly what happened,’’ said du 
Chaillu. But already he was comparing the 
sketch maps Paul had given him with his own big 
wall map, and was using his compasses and other 
instruments to determine ranges and distances. 
His eyes were shining, too. Busy as he was, how- 
ever, he listened attentively. 

“That was well done — well done, indeed!” he 
said, heartily. “You will hear more of this, I 
promise you, and from those whose praise will 
mean more than anything I can say. I shall take 
you at once to General Leman, although there are 
positive orders that he is not to be disturbed.” 

And so in a few minutes they found themselves 
in the presence of the heroic defender of Liege, the 
kindly faced, middle aged general who was to win 


78 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


a European, a world-wide reputation, indeed, in 
the course of the next few days. He heard du 
Chaillu’s report; then he questioned both the 
scouts. 

‘^You have served Belgium well to-day,’’ he 
said, finally. shall report your conduct to His 
Majesty the King. Major, see to it that these boys 
reach their homes in safety, and if an escort is 
needed, or any other help, to enable them and their 
relatives to reach a place of safety, supply it. I 
shall see you again, I hope, my boys!” 

‘^What we discovered will really prove useful, 
then?” asked Paul, when, with the major, they 
had left General Leman. 

‘‘Useful?” exclaimed the major. “Eh — but 
yes ! Listen ! What you have found is the location 
of all the heavy guns that will soon be thundering 
at our brave forts. Now we shall know just where 
those guns are. We can give the gunners the ex- 
act range, the exact spot at which to drop their 
shells. We shall put their heavy pieces out of busi- 
ness. Do you see? If you had not brought us 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


79 


this word we might have wasted many shots try- 
ing to do that. We should have sent up aero- 
planes, we should have guessed by the smoke and 
the reports just where their guns were placed. 
But now we need not guess ; we need risk nothing 
to learn the truth. We know it in advance.” 

‘ ‘ I was hoping there would be time to send men 
to destroy such places as we found,” said Arthur. 

‘ ‘ There might be time, but it is far better not to 
do so, you see,” said the major. ‘^As it is, we 
could destroy only the mountings. But if we wait 
until their guns are in position, we can smash the 
guns as well. It may well be that you have dealt 
a blow to Germany to-night more severe than the 
loss of a battle and fifty thousand men would be!” 

‘ ^ I hope so ! ” said Arthur, vindictively. ‘ ‘ They 
have no budness coming into peaceful Belgium, 
which asks only to be left alone ! ’ ’ 

The major laughed a little bitterly. 

‘^That is true,” he said. ‘‘But our poor Bel- 
gium! They call her the cockpit of Europe, for 
whenever there is a general war, it is here in Bel- 


80 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


giuin and in Flanders, both French and Belgian, 
that the fighting is at its fiercest, it seems. Marl- 
borough fought Louis the Fourteenth here; it was 
near Brussels that Wellington crushed Napoleon. 
Blood and fire have been known in Belgium al- 
ways. But perhaps after this war our neutrality 
will no longer be but a word. It may be that we 
shall be able to cease to think of danger then. ’ * 
Outside there was a sudden bustle. Officers 
were running about, forgetful of their dignity. 
From the room in which they had left General 
Leman there was a constant double stream of offi- 
cers and orderlies, one going in, the other coming 
out. Major du Chaillu looked startled. 

‘‘There must be something newl^^ he said. 
“Wait for me a minute — I will find out.^' 

When he returned his face was very grave. 

“A German army corps has occupied Luxem- 
bourg, against the formal protest of the Grand 
Duchess Marie Adelaide, ’ ’ he said. ‘ ‘ And Belgian 
soil has felt the footprints of armed Germans at 
last! What we have known must come has come! 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


81 


The German invasion of Belgium has begun F’ 

“That means war/’ said Paul. 

“Yes. I am afraid that we shall be fighting 
them within twenty-four hours. They will move 
swiftly. You had better hasten back to your 
home. If there are no men left there you may be 
badly needed. 

“Very well, sir,” said Paul. “I hope, though, 
that we may be of some service during the defence, 
after we have done what is necessary for my 
aunt.” 

“We shall see as to that later,” said du Chaillu. 
“You have been of the greatest service to Belgium 
already. I shall order an escort for you.” 

“Please don’t,” said Paul. “We can get along 
all right. There can be no danger now. And I 
believe that every man in the garrison here will 
be needed.” 

“Well — ” Du Chaillu hesitated. “Perhaps 
you are right. I myself cannot see of what use an 
armed escort can be to you. There is not the 
slightest real chance of any trouble between here 


82 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


and your home. Good luck to you — and may we 
meet again in a time when our anxieties and our 
fears for our country shall he at an end ! ^ ' 

‘‘Good-bye, sir, and thank you!’’ said Paul and 
Arthur together. 

In the town they got bicycles at a place where 
they were well known. Du Chaillu had given them 
the countersign, and they needed it near Boncelles, 
since they were challenged. They rode swiftly 
along, and as they neared the house, they saw a 
bright glare in the sky. 


CHAPTER Vn 


THE FIRE 

‘ ‘ That ’s from a fire, Paul ! ’ ^ said Arthur. ‘ ‘ And 
it looks — ’’ 

“As if it came from Uncle Henri 'S house? It 
certainly does, Arthur! Oh, but I hope it isn’t! 
That would be dreadful ! ’ ’ 

They raced on now, and as they hastened, the sky 
before them grew ever brighter. They could no 
longer doubt that the glare they saw came from a 
conflagration, and it grew more and more certain 
every minute that it was their own summer home 
that was burning. There was no other house in 
that direction that would produce such a splendid 
reflection were it afire. 

And soon, too, they came in sight of the house, 
and all hope that they were mistaken vanished. 
It was M. de Frenard ’s house, and a single glance 
showed that there was no hope of saving it. 
Flames were spurting from every window, and 

83 


84 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


throngh the roof, even as they came into plain 
sight of the house, there burst a great pillar of 
fire. There seemed to be an explosion of some sort, 
for a great mass of sparks shot upward toward 
the heavens, raining down a moment later. In the 
light of the fire they could see the men-servants 
and some of the peasant neighbors busily engaged 
in dragging a few pieces of furniture and some 
pictures across the lawn — evidently what little 
there had been time to drag from the burning 
house. They could see also a group of women, 
where Madame de Frenard was calming the 
women-servants and trying to bring order out of 
chaos. 

Dropping their bicycles, they ran quickly to- 
ward her, calling her name. As she heard them 
she turned, and they saw that her face was radiant. 

^‘Oh, you are safe, then!” she cried. ‘‘Now 
nothing else matters, since no one is hurt! No one 
had seen you two since dinner — I was so fright- 
ened!” 

“We^re all right,” said Paul, a little remorse- 


85 


. IE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

fnl. ‘‘There was something we had to do, that I 
will tell you about later. But how did this fire 
start r’ 

“No one knows, said Madame de Frenard, her 
eyes darkening. “All that is certain is that we 
were awakened by a cry of fire. There was 
scarcely time for all of us to get out, and for the 
men to save a few of the best pictures. It seemed 
that oil must have been spread about, for the fire 
to bum so quickly! I do not believe it was an ac- 
cident.” 

Paul and Arthur looked at one another. The 
same thought had come to both of them. It was 
Arthur who voiced it. 

“The Germans?” he said, doubtfully. 

“Just what I was wondering,” said Paul. “But 
why should they?” 

“Oh, I thought of them, too!” said their aunt. 
“And I, too, asked why. There is war but, even 
so, we have nothing to do with that. There is no 
reason for them to bum our home!” 

‘ ‘ I think a great many things are going to hap- 


86 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


pen for which it will be hard to find a reason,’’ 
said Paul, thoughtfully. 

‘‘Well, the first thing to be done is for us to get 
a roof over our heads for to-night, ’ ’ said Madame 
de Frenard, with decision. “Your uncle is still 
in Brussels, unless he has already rejoined the 
army. I think we had better go into Liege and 
stay at a hotel.” 

“We can get into Liege,” said Paul, rousing 
himself from his mood of reflection, ‘ ‘ but I ’m not 
sure about staying there. I think you had better 
take your maid and go to Brussels, Aunt Claire. 
The rest of the servants ought to go home, I 
think.” 

It was curious to see how their positions were 
reversed in this emergency. It was Paul who was 
in command now, not his aunt. 

‘ ‘ Do you think so ? ” she said. ‘ ‘ Why, Paul ? ’ ’ 

“Because I am afraid that there will be hard 
fighting around Liege. I do not think the town will 
be defended for very long; it cannot be. It is sup- 
posed only to check the German advance, to gain 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


87 


a little time, so that the French and the English, 
if they come to onr aid, may have time to mass 
their troops to the west and the north. I am sure 
Uncle Henri would say I was right, and I can 
arrange it for you to be sent to Brussels, I am 
sure. ’ ' 

Madame de Frenard was a little inclined to 
smile, in spite of the fire and all the woe it had 
brought with it. 

^‘Why, Paul, how can you arrange anything?'^ 
she asked. ‘‘Have you, perhaps, suddenly ac- 
quired influence with the armyT’ 

“He certainly has!’’ interrupted Arthur, his 
eyes shining. “Oh, Aunt Claire, we’ve done so 
many wonderful things to-night!” 

So he let the cat out of the bag, and, with so 
much of a start, Madame de Frenard was not sat- 
isfied until she had the whole story out of them. 
She caught her breath when she heard of the shots 
that had been fired at them, but she looked very 
proud and happy, too. 

‘ ‘ Oh, that was splendid ! ’ ’ she cried. “We may 


88 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


be a little nation, we Belgians, but we can meet 
them when even our boys can defy them and outwit 
them so magnificently! Now I know that I can 
trust you! Paul, it is as if your uncle were here! 
You shall take his place, and I shall do whatever 
you say is right.’’ 

Paul grew red, and embarrassment checked his 
speech for a moment. 

‘‘It was just luck, of course,” he said, confus- 
edly. “Anyone could have done what we did, you 
know. But I’m glad you’ll go on to Brussels, 
Aunt Claire, and I think Major du Chaillu will be 
glad to make the arrangements, before the railway 
is interrupted. I will go now and get out the car- 
riages.” 

“Very well, Paul, do so. It is lucky that we 
have those left, at any rate. ” 

Paul and Arthur helped the men to get out the 
carriages and harness the horses, frightened by 
the noise and confusion of the fire. And Paul and 
Arthur, too, rode in the carriage that took their 
aunt and her maid into Liege. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


89 


“I didn^t think we would be coming back to 
Liege quite so soon/’ said Arthur, a little ruefully. 
“This isn’t as exciting as the first trip we made 
to-night, either. ’ ’ 

“No, but I think it’s safer,” said Paul, rather 
dryly. “And there’ll be more than enough excite- 
ment to make up for it when the Germans come, 
Arthur.” 

“Oh, I suppose so!” 

“I am going to take you two boys to Brussels 
with me,” said Madame de Prenard, suddenly. 

Paul was quiet at that; it was Arthur who cried 
out in vigorous protest. 

‘ ‘ Oh, no. Aunt Claire ! ” he exclaimed. ‘ ^ There ’s 
so much for us to do here!” 

“There will be plenty for you to do in Brus- 
sels,” she said, with decision. “It’s settled. I 
can’t allow you to stay here if it isn’t safe for me.” 

Arthur looked to Paul for help, but Paul only 
smiled. His aunt looked at him curiously. 

“So you are willing to go without arguing, 
PaulT” she asked. 


90 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


^‘You said it was settled, Aunt Claire, he re- 
plied. a thing is settled, there is no use in 
arguing about it, is there ? ^ ^ 

She smiled faintly. She knew Paul well enough 
to know that when his mind was made up he never 
was willing to admit that a thing was settled until 
it was settled as he wished. She wondered what 
he had up his sleeve, for she was sure that he was 
quite as anxious as Arthur to stay in or around 
Liege. 

As a matter of fact, Paul was the only one of 
them all who had even a remote idea of what was 
coming. He could not foresee all the horrors of 
invasion and battle. No one can do that, or wars 
would never be begun. But he did realize that 
dire trouble was in store, and that a good many 
civilians, and especially women and young chil- 
dren, would be sent away from Liege before there 
was any fighting, if that were possible. There was 
something else that Paul grasped better than 
either Arthur and his aunt, and that was the prob- 
able course of the invasion. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


91 


He knew that in a few days Liege, strong fort- 
ress though it was, would be engulfed. It might 
hold out for a long time; he thought it probably 
would. But the Germans would be all about it. 
The Uhlans would sweep along, far beyond the 
range of the guns of the forts, cutting communi- 
cations, interrupting railways, blocking the roads, 
and Liege must depend upon itself for food, for 
ammunition, for all the things that would be 
needed. For that reason, he thought. General 
Leman would encourage all who could to get out 
of the city before the actual siege began. And he 
had an idea that there was no real question of his 
going, or Arthur; that they would have to wait 
their turn, at least. That was why he submitted 
so quietly to his aunt^s declaration that he and 
Arthur were to go with her. 

When they arrived in Liege he found that, late 
as it was, the city was still awake and stirring. 
Outside of the railway station there was a great 
crowd. There were women there with children 
clinging to their skirts. They carried odd-shaped 


92 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


bundles. Plainly this was a sudden flight for most 
of them, and they had snatched up their greatest 
treasures, and wrapped them as best they could. 

'‘Why, it looks like a regular panic! said 
Madame de Frenard. “I don’t see what there is 
to be afraid of yet, at any rate. I don ’t see how we 
are going to get away, either, Paul.” 

"I’]l try to find Major du Chaillu,” said Paul. 
"Arthur, will you stay here while I go?” 

He went off when Arthur nodded, and threaded 
his way through the confusion and the crowds to 
General Leman’s headquarters. There, after a 
good deal of difiiculty, and after he had been 
turned away several times by impatient sentries, 
he succeeded in finding his friend the major. To 
him he explained the situation. 

"Your aunt and her maid?” said du Chaillu. 
"Yes, I shall be able to manage that.” 

"My cousin and I cannot go, I suppose?” 

"Not to-night, I’m afraid, my boy. The orders 
are very strict.” He looked a little puzzled, but 
went on: "I’d like to make an exception in your 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


93 


case, for you have done so much for Belgium — ** 

‘^Oh, I don’t want to go and neither does 
Arthur!” cried Paul, with a laugh. ‘‘It’s just as 
I thought. Only my aunt wants us to go, and I 
was afraid that perhaps we could.” 

The major laughed, too. 

“That’s more like what I had expected from 
you,” he said. “Yet it would be better if you did 
go. However, women and children first. We’ve 
made the rule, and we must make no exceptions, 
or it would be impossible to enforce it at all.” 

“Oh, we’ll get along all right,” said Paul. 
“And — well, I have an idea that may not be of 
any use, so that I’d better not say anything about 
it yet. But I hope that Paul and I can still do 
something for Belgium and Liege.” 

“I’ve no doubt that you will try to do that,” 
said du Chaillu. “Come, show me where you left 
your aunt, and I will see that she is allowed to go 
out on the next train. I will take her into the sta- 
tion by a private entrance for there is little chance 
of getting through the crowd in any other way.” 


94 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


He was as good as his word. Madame de Fre- 
nard listened to his explanation of how impossi- 
ble it was for Paul and Arthur to he allowed to go 
on the train, and glanced at Paul. She thought 
that she understood his submissiveness better now I 

‘‘But — women and children T’ she said. 

‘ ‘ Surely these boys 1 ’ ^ 

“We are not children!^’ protested Paul and 
Arthur, in one breath. 

Major du Chaillu smiled rather sadly. 

“No, they are not children in such times as 
these, Madame,’^ he said. “We have not quite 
come to the point of calling upon hoys to fight, 
but we cannot treat them as children. Still, I 
shall see that they are looked to, as well as I can, 
be assured of that, Madame de Frenard.’’ 

And with that assurance she had to be content. 


CHAPTER Vm 


THE UHLAN 

“Come along with me,^’ said dn Chailln, when 
they had left Madame de Frenard in the station. 
“I’ll see that you’re put np for the rest of the 
night, and to-morrow we’ll make other arrange- 
ments.” 

“Thank yon,” said Paul, “but I think we’d 
better go back. A good many things were saved, 
after all, when the house was burned. When so 
much was destroyed I think we ought to try to 
safeguard what remains, for my uncle’s sake. And 
there is a place there where we can sleep very well, 
thank you. ’ ’ 

“H’ml” Du Chaillu looked more than doubt- 
ful. “But there is no telling how soon the Ger- 
mans will be there. Had you thought of that?” 

“They won’t hurt us, sir,” said Paul. 

“No, I suppose not. There’s no reason for 

them to make war on boys or any other non-com- 

os 


96 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


batants. One word of warning, though. If the 
Germans do come before you can get away again, 
don ^t make any move against them. All the fight- 
ing must be done by soldiers. The Germans con- 
sider it is murder if a civilian fires on them, and 
they are in the right, according to the rules of 
war. They are justified in making any reprisals. 
So be careful yourselves, and warn all the men 
about your place. Tell them the message is from 
me. General Leman has issued orders that no 
civilians are to oppose the Germans or give them 
any excuse for destroying undefended places. ’ ’ 
understand, sir,’’ said Paul. ‘‘Then we may 

go?” 

“Yes. But be careful. We have seen aero- 
planes of the Germans already — one of our flyers 
chased one of their Taubes early in the evening. 
They dropped bombs on Fort Boncelles.” 

“I never thought of that!” exclaimed Arthur, 
sharply. “Do you suppose one of their aeroplanes 
could have dropped a bomb that would have set 
our house afire?” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 97 


‘‘It is possible,’^ said du Cbailla, shortly. 
“They might not have realized what they were 
doing. I hope they did not, if that is what hap- 
pened. It is not the sort of work for soldiers.'^ 

“It makes very little difference now,’^ said 
Paul. “The house is burned, so it doesn’t matter, 
I suppose, how it came to catch fire. We will go 
back, then, major.” 

“Very well. Report to me at headquarters here 
when you return, although by that time I may be 
on duty in one of the forts. I cannot tell; we of 
the staff are in one place one minute, and far away 
the next. Good-night, again, and better luck, this 
time, than my wishes brought you before.” 

“Good-night!” they echoed, and set out to find 
their carriage. But before they reached it Paul 
stopped. 

“I want to go to Henri Creusot’s house,” he 
said. “There is something in the stable there we 
shall need. I suppose we. can’t wake him up, but 
I shall get what I want, even if we cannot.” 

Arthur followed him willingly, although Paul 


08 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


volunteered no explanation of what it was that 
he was after. And he remained on guard outside 
the stable while Paul went in, to reappear pres- 
ently with a large and cumbrous burden — a sack 
bulging with the spoil of his little raid. Then they 
went to the carriage, and soon they were driving 
back toward the ruined house. When they 
reached it the dawn was beginning to break in the 
east — toward Germany! It was a red, menacing 
dawn — the sort of daybreak one might well have 
expected to see in suck a time. About the smoul- 
dering remains of the fine house the men employed 
about the place were still grouped. It seemed all 
had decided that in some mysterious fashion the 
Germans were responsible for the ruin that had 
been wrought, and they were talking sullenly of 
what they meant to do to the enemy. 

Paul gave quick directions for housing and hid- 
ing the pictures and the few fine pieces of furni- 
ture that had been saved. When all that he or- 
dered had been done there seemed a good chance 
that what the flames had spared would be safe 


THE BEIiGIANS TO THE FRONT 


99 


from further risk. Then he and Arthur went over 
to look at the garage, which had not been touched 
by the fire. 

‘‘This is a piece of good luck, anyhow,’’ said 
Paul, when he found the little building untouched. 
“I think we’ll live here as long as the Germans 
will let us, Arthur, which probably won’t be very 
long, even if we pretend to be stupid. We can be 
mighty comfortable. ’ ’ 

“Of course we can,” said Arthur. “It will be 
like a picnic, or like camping out, won’t it?” 

“I’m afraid it won’t,” said Paul. “But we’U 
make the best of it, anyway. Come along to the 
house. I think the ruins are cool enough for us to 
find out what I want to know.” 

He led the way and Arthur followed. But it was 
not to the house that Paul went first. Instead, he 
led the way to a post that had carried the telephone 
wire, and, finding the wire, began to follow it to- 
ward the wing where it had entered the house. 

“What on earth are you looking at that tele- 
phone wire for?” asked Arthur, completely mys-^ 


100 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


tified. seems to me that that^s the least im- 
portant thing there is left. ’ ’ 

“I think it’s going to be about the most impor- 
tant thing!” said Paul, surprisingly. ‘‘Go get a 
shovel, will you? Or rather two, for we’ve got 
some digging to do.” 

Arthur obeyed, as he always did, but he was 
thoroughly mystified. And no light was shed upon 
the mystery when he returned, to find that Paul 
had disconnected the wire in the ruins of the 
house and was dragging it away from the post 
where it entered the grounds. But now Paul ex- 
plained. 

“Do you remember that several of the crosses 
on those maps we found were right over there?” 
he asked, pointing in a direction east of the burned 
house. 

‘^Y — es,” said Arthur, with an effort to remem- 
ber. “Oh, yes, I do, now!” 

“Well, that means that there will be a battery 
there. Do you see how it’s screened? The woods 
hide it completely. It doesn ’t make any difference 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


101 


to the Germans that they can’t see their target — 
they’ve got a fixed range, because they know just 
where the forts are, and they’ll get the range of 
anything else from their aeroplanes.’^ 

‘‘Yes, I see that.” 

“Well, I think this battery is likely to turn out 
to be the most important one on this side. I think 
that they will depend on it to silence Boncelles 
and Embourg. We haven’t many aeroplanes and 
it’s going to be mighty hard for our people in the 
forts to tell what the effect of their shell fire is, 
and to correct the range, especially if the Germans 
use comparatively light guns that they can move 
about, as I think they will. Now do you seel” 
“Not quite — ” 

“Suppose we stay here in the garage? There’s 
a chance that they may let us, isn’t there? Well, 
if they do, we can see whatever goes on, with a 
little care. And if we have a buried telephone 
wire leading to Boncelles we can report just what 
happens when a shell is fired, and they can cor- 
rect their aim. That ’s why I want to dig a trench 


102 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


for that wire from some distance outside the 
grounds here, and run it under the garage — into 
the pit, you know. ^ ^ 

‘‘Oh, now I see! You mean we would stay here 
and pretend not to have any idea of what^s going 
on, while we were really sending information to 
the forts 

“Yes. Now the first thing we’ve got to do is 
to tap that wire and tell them in Liege what we 
are doing, so that they can give us direct connec- 
tion with Boncelles. Then weTl try to hide the 
wire, so that the Germans wonT find it.’’ 

Now the mysterious errand Paul had had in 
Liege was explained. He had brought with him all 
he thought he could use of a lot of wire and tele- 
phone instruments that one of their fellow scouts 
had used in setting up a miniature telephone ex- 
change of his own, with wires connecting his house 
with that of some of his chums. 

“We’d better dig the trench and bury the wire 
first because we’ve got to be very careful in filling 
it up again, so that no one will notice what’s been 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


103 


done,’^ said Paul. ‘‘That^s the most important 
part. Yon see, if we were caught at this we^d be 
treated as spies — and that’s what we’ll really 
be.” 

‘‘Isn’t there a chance that they won’t really 
come as far as this?” asked Arthur. 

“Yes, there is and a very good chance,. too, I 
think. Really, if they do come up to . this point, I 
believe we won’t have much chance. But the 
grounds here will be well within the range of the 
guns from the forts, and I don’t think they’ll do 
any infantry work until they’ve tried to beat down 
our forts with their big guns. Not from this side, 
anyway. If they try to take Liege by storm 
they’re more likely to attack between Liers and 
Pontisse, or between the Meuse and Barchon. The 
country’s more open there. Here, you see, the 
Ourthe runs between Boncelles and Embourg, 
and the two forts command all the approaches. 
So I think there’s a good chance for us. But we 
have got to take precautions, of course, because 
they are almost sure to throw out their scouts aa 


104 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


far as this in the beginning, even if they recall 
them after the guns start firing.’^ 

Neither of the scouts thought of being tired 
after that. Arthur began the work of digging out 
the shallow trench in which they meant to bury 
the wire, while Paul tapped the main wire and ex- 
plained to an officer at headquarters in Liege what 
they planned. It took him some time to overcome 
the doubts of this officer, but finally it was ar-, 
ranged that his wire should be connected with 
Fort Boncelles direct, and he talked to that impor- 
tant link in the chain of defending forts for some 
time, making final arrangements. 

“No matter what happens, of course,^’ he said, 
“you mustn^t call us, because if we^re quiet for 
any length of time, it may mean that the Germans 
are around us. We will watch the firing, after it 
begins, and tell you whatever we can find out.’’ 

Then he returned to help Arthur, and they 
worked until it was broad daylight. By that time 
they had the wire well hidden, so that it was en- 
tirely invisible. It came out under the garage, 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


105 


and tlie instrument at its end was well concealed 
in the pit under the place where the big car stood 
when repairs were to be made. 

‘‘Well, that’s done I” Paul exclaimed at last, 
with a deep sigh of satisfaction. “Are you tired, 
Arthur?” 

“I wasn’t just a minute ago,” said Arthur, rub- 
bing his eyes. “But now I’m so sleepy that I feel 
as if I could go off standing up!” 

“Well, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get 
some sleep now. I’m like you. As long as we still 
had something to do I didn’t feel tired. But 
now — ” 

A great yawn interrupted him. They surveyed 
their work with blinking eyes, then they crept up 
to the little room above the garage, and in less than 
a minute were sound asleep. 

It was broad daylight when they went asleep; 
when they awoke dusk had fallen. Paul woke 
first, and he went to the window and looked out. 
Everything, seemingly, was just as it had been 
when they had last looked out. The scene was one 


106 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


of profound peace. From the window he could not 
see the burned house, a patch of blackened ruin 
in the fair landscape. The fading light played on 
the leaves just as it had a thousand times before; 
shadows lay along the little mossy patches, the 
corners of the lawns that he knew so well. 

‘^Wake up, Arthurl’’ he said, turning to his 
chum. 

He had to shake Arthur before he could arouse 
him. 

‘‘It isn’t time to get up yet — it’s still dark, 
Paul,” protested Arthur, sleepily. But then he 
began to recover his wits, and he dragged himself 
up, and went with Paul to the window. For a few 
moments they were quiet, listening. 

“Perhaps they’re not coming — perhaps it’s all 
a false alarm. I don’t hear any guns.” 

“Look I” said Paul, gripping him suddenly by 
the shoulder. He pointed to the road. Against 
the sky stood a horse, on its back a silent rider 
with a spiked helmet, in his hand a long lance. 
A German Uhlan! 


CHAPTER IX 


WAR 

‘‘TheyVe come, then!’’ isaid Paul. “That 
means war. Look at Ms uniform — I never saw a 
German soldier looking like that before. 

It was true. The uniform seemed to melt into 
the landscape ; it was indeterminate, greenish gray 
in color. Even the spike of the helmet did not 
catch the rays of the sinking snn; it was covered 
with the dull, neutral colored cloth. 

“I hope he isnT going to stay there,’’ said 
Arthur. Their voices had sunk to wMspers. 
Though there was no chance that the vidette would 
hear them, his very presence had the effect of 
quieting them. There was a tremendous differ- 
ence, somehow, between thinking of an invasion, 
between realizing that it was inevitable that Ger- 
man troops should pour into Belgium, and the 
actual sight of one of the enemy. 

“I don’t tMnk he will,” said Paul^ “He’s just 

107 


108 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


scouting, I think. Probably he will ride back soon. 
And they can’t be very near — the main body, 
that is. If they were we’d hear something of 
them.” 

Then before Arthur could answer, something 
happened. The air trembled, and a dull sound, 
echoing again and again, came to them. The two 
scouts stared at one another; then they turned, 
together, to look at the Uhlan, and saw that he 
had heard it, too, and was listening sharply. The 
light was full on his face, and they could see that 
it wore an awed expression. And well it might! 
They had heard the sound of the first heavy gun 
that was fired in anger in the war of the nations! 

‘‘That gun was some distance away. I should 
think it might have been fired at Fleron,” said 
Paul. ‘ ‘ The siege must have begun. ’ ’ 

And now the air was full of sound. First from 
one side, then from the other, batteries and forts 
joined in the chorus. All around them, it seemed, 
the great voices of the guns were speaking. Soon 
individual explosions ceased to stand out; every- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


109 


thing was merged into a heavy, dull roar that beat 
against their ears and filled the air with a contin- 
uous tremor. Sometimes the roar rose in volume 
when a new battery came into action. For a few 
minutes Paul and Arthur were absorbed. They 
listened, spellbound, to the roar of the guns. 
There was something unreal about it. It did not 
seem possible that those guns were being fired to 
kill and destroy, for, as they looked out, every- 
thing was peaceful still. Save when their eyes 
fell upon the Uhlan, mounted on his horse. He 
sat in his saddle, stiff, erect, the very type of the 
vast army of which he was a tiny, undistinguish- 
able part — as a rule. Now he was that army, for 
the two who watched him. Still they stared while 
the shadows advanced, eating into the light spaces 
that remained, until grey dusk settled over 
everything, and he seemed to slip into it, and be- 
come a part of the landscape. Then his horse 
moved; he turned, and cantered slowly out of 
sight. 

His going somehow seemed to break a spell. 


110 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FKONT 


“Come! We must see what’s going on back 
there,” said Paul. “ We can see the battery, you 
know, if those crosses really mean that a battery 
was to be located on the spot we had placed from 
the map.” 

They went to the other side of the little garage 
and looked out. And, to the east, on a piece of 
rising ground, that would have been hidden had 
the de Frenard house still stood, as it had stood 
before the fire, they saw something that looked 
like a picture of an inferno. 

There was a great gash in the woods, where 
trees had been cut d6wn ruthlessly. Against the 
background of the woods that had been spared, 
a lurid glare threw everything into relief. Great 
arc lights had been strung, so that a space of 
ground was as bright as day, and in the light hun- 
dreds of men were working. In one place a great 
furnace was blazing, and the ruddy glow from that 
cast a crimson light against the cold, white radi- 
ance of the electric lamps. Steam cranes were at 
work; huge cannon were being moved into place 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


in 


on the pedestals that had been prepared for them 
in advance. 

‘^We were right!’’ said Panl, exnltingly. ‘‘That 
is to be a great battery. They must be very pow- 
erful guns, too, or else they would have been ready 
with the rest, and in action by this time. Ah! I’m 
glad I thought of the telephone!” 

“How fast they are working!” said Arthur. 
That was what caught his eye in the strange, 
weird scene. There was no confusion, despite the 
extraordinary efforts that were obviously being 
made to hasten the work. Every man, as they 
could see, even at that distance, knew exactly what 
he was to do. It seemed that the whole operation 
must have been planned far in advance, even re- 
hearsed. Such perfect team work could not be 
the result of chance, nor even of unusually good 
discipline. No, somewhere in Germany just such 
scenes must have been enacted in time of peace, 
that when the grim, harsh test of real war came 
there might be no delay, no lost motions, no tri- 
fling, unforeseen hitch to render useless all the 


112 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


elaborate plan that had been made. This might 
be war, but it was a grim, cold business, too. 

‘‘It^s like going to see the steel works at Seraing 
at night, said Paul. Except that there’s less 
glare from the blast furnaces, of course.” 

good many of those men aren’t in uniform,” 
said Arthur, his keen eyes taking in details as he 
grew more accustomed to the strange and awe in- 
spiring grandeur of the scene as a whole. 

‘‘They’re probably workmen from Essen,” said 
Paul. He had a pair of binoculars out now, and 
was looking closely at every detail of the scene. 

“But why should they be there? This is a time 
for soldiers.” 

“Not altogether, Arthur. I know — don’t you 
remember what Uncle Henri told us? — that a 
lot of the workmen from Seraing would have to 
be along with some of the new field artillery 
pieces, because the secrets of some things are kept 
even from the soldiers. Those are probably some 
of the men from the Krupp works, brought here 
just to handle these big guns.” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


113 


**Well, they take their chances, just like sol- 
diers, if they do that, don’t they?” 

“Of course. They really are soldiers, just as 
much as the others, but they have special work to 
do, that they’re trained for. That’s the only dif- 
ference. ’ ’ 

“What are we going to do now?” 

“We’re going to try to spoil the little surprise 
these Germans are preparing for Boncelles and 
Embourg,” said Paul, gritting his teeth. “You 
stay here by this window, Arthur. I’m going 
down to telephone to Boncelles. If anyone comes 
near, tell me at once. It’s awfully important, you 
know, to keep them from finding out about our 
telephone wire just as long as we can. And listen, 
in case I call to you. I ’ll want a quick answer, if 
Ido.” 

“All right, Paul.” 

Down Paul went, then, to the gasoline pit. 
Lying at full length, he drew the telephone instru- 
ment from the cunningly devised hiding place he 
and Arthur had arranged for it. He was fearful 


114 


TIIB BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


for a moment ; there was a chance, and more than a 
chance, that the German scouts might have found 
and cut the wire; they would certainly have tried 
to cut every telephone and telegraph wire in the 
neighborhood, as the first and most obvious pre- 
caution. But after a brief delay he was delighted 
to hear an answering voice. 

Quickly he explained who he was, and found 
that his call had been expected. In a moment an 
artillery officer, who said he was Lieutenant 
Delaunay, was speaking. 

^^What information have youT’ he asked, 
quickly. ‘‘I have your maps here before me.^' 

‘‘Find the one that shows the Ourthe and the 
ground before Boncelles and Embourg,’' said 
Paul. 

‘‘Right!’’ 

“Mark the house of M. de Frenard, destroyed 
last night by fire.” 

“I have it!” 

“Good! To the east of the house the ground 
slopes upward. It is well sheltered from obser- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 115 

vation by the fort. Your searchlights would be 
blocked by the woods between the fort and the 
house. But there is a spot marked on the map by 
a group of crosses. Do you see itT’ 

‘‘Right! We decided that would be a battery. 
The other forts report that they have been fired 
on from points marked on the maps that you sup- 
plied, and that by concentrating their fire on the 
points indicated on these maps they have silenced 
a number of field guns.” 

“I am glad,” said Paul, quietly. “I was sure 
that the information would prove to be valuable. 
Well, then, this battery is not of field guns. That 
is why you have heard no firing from it as yet. 
They are working now, by electric light, and are 
placing heavy guns — not the very heaviest, I 
should say, but far heavier pieces than would us- 
ually be at the front so soon — probably seven 
inch mortars. ’ ’ 

“Seven inch mortars! That sounds almost in- 
credible ! ’ ’ 

“None the less, it is true. You may open fire 


116 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


at once on the spots marked on your map, and do 
great damage. We are in a position here to tell 
you whether your shells land properly or not — 
we can see the battery from here. Will you fire?^' 

‘‘At once!^’ said Delaunay. “Go and watch for 
the shells — then report to us, if you can, whether 
they were properly aimed. You will be of the 
greatest service to us if you can do that. It is of 
the last importance that that battery should not 
come into action against us — these forts were not 
intended, when they were built, to withstand the 
battery of such heavy guns as that!’’ 

Thrilled by the knowledge that the risks he and 
Arthur had run the previous night had not been 
in vain, Paul went upstairs and rejoined Arthur. 
To the east, where the frantic efforts of the Ger- 
mans to get their heavy artillery into position for 
the opening attack were still continued, there was 
no apparent change in the situation. 

“No one has come near,” said Arthur. “Was 
the wire working? What did they say at Bon- 
celles?” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


117 


Paul told him, and they settled down to wait. 
It was nervous work, tense and anxious. Two of 
the guns — they counted six of them, in all — 
were already in position, and finishing touches 
were being put to them. 

‘‘Oh, why don’t they hurry?” complained 
Arthur. ‘ ‘ The Germans are not going to wait for 
them to be ready to fire. ’ ’ 

“Listen,” said Paul. “The fire is slackening 
a little, I think. You can see that what we did had 
some use — they have silenced a good many Ger- 
man guns already, through knowing just where 
to aim. ’ ’ 

“What’s that?” exclaimed Arthur, suddenly. 

Overhead a strange noise filled the air; a shriek- 
ing, whining, whistling sound. It rose, as it came 
nearer, to a wild whistle, like the blast of a factory 
signal, releasing the workers at the end of the 
day’s work. The two scouts stared at one an- 
other; then, without knowing why, they turned to 
look at the busy scene to the east. Suddenly, be- 
fore their eyes, there was a flash; a puff of white 


118 THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

smoke rising in tke ghostly radiance of the arc 
lamps, and, after a distinct pause, a dull crash. 
Then, as the smoke cleared, and they still stood 
awe stricken, they saw that the bursting shell had 
tom a great hole in the ground. They saw men 
mnning; others were crawling, dragging them- 
selves painfully along. And others still lay very 
quiet. 

For just a moment there was a scene of wild 
confusion. But then order was restored, and a 
knot of men ran to the two guns that were unin- 
jured and ready. Paul dived down at once. 
Quickly he told what had happened, then raced up 
again. Another whistling overhead, and then a 
terrific explosion. The two guns lay overturned, 
ruined. 


CHAPTER X 


PRISONERS OF WAR 

For five minutes the two scouts, appalled, hor- 
rified, stood as if glued to the floor, staring at the 
scene of destruction. The guns in Fort Boncelles 
had the range now. Nothing more than Paul’s 
hurried message, ‘‘Your shell landed beyond the 
guns,” had been necessary. Now shell after shell 
was dropped in the midst of the battery that had 
been wiped out before it could fire even a single 
shot. There was a deadly, terrifying accuracy 
about the whole proceeding. Miles away the Bel- 
gian gunners, safe in their concrete and steel tur- 
rets, were producing this waste and destruction 
— not by fighting, it seemed to Paul and Arthur, 
but by a blackboard exercise. That was all it 
really was. 

“You see, they know just where their gun is, 
and they can adjust it to fire a certain distance. 
They can take a map, and fire a shell at any given 

119 


120 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


spot, just by mathematics. They know the angle 
they must use, and they know just how far, and 
how fast that shell will go. It won’t always go 
quite true, of course ; that was why the first shell 
didn’t strike just the right spot.” 

*‘But why is that, if everything is so exact? I 
shouldn’t think they’d ever make a miss.” 

‘‘Oh, there are lots of reasons. For one, after a 
gun has been fired a few times the inside is af- 
fected. The rifling is worn in places, and that 
gives a slightly different spin to the shell. It 
doesn’t take much of a change in conditions to 
alter the course of a shell a good deal. And the 
weather counts, too. Sometimes there is more air 
resistance; on a day when it is damp and foggy, 
with low lying clouds, for instance. So, though 
they have the range exactly, they may have to 
alter what they call the formula a little. ’ ’ 

“And they find out by shooting how nearly 
right they are?” 

“Yes, that’s just what they do. It’s the only 
way they can do it, too. That’s why it’s so im- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


121 


portant, when guns are being fired at targets miles 
away, to have some one report the effect of the 
first shot or two. In a regular battle, in open 
country, both armies will probably use aeroplanes 
in this war. The man in the aeroplane can see just 
where the shells strike, and send back word. ’ * 

‘‘How?'' 

‘ ‘ In lots of ways. Some of the bigger ones have 
a small wireless equipment. Sometimes they drop 
bombs, that make a smoky patch in the air when 
they explode — they drop them right over the 
place the artillery wants to hit, and then the men 
with the guns get their instruments and figure out 
just what the range is." 

“I don't think the Germans are so very brave, 
after all," said Arthur, in a moment. “They all 
ran as soon as the shells began to come. ' ' 

“That doesn't show they're not brave — it only 
shows that their officers have some common sense. 
What good could they do if they stayed there to 
be killed? They couldn't save those guns, 
could they? I'm sorry they couldn't have been 


122 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


warned, that’s 'all. You see, they might have 
thought the first shell was just a chancej^ lucky 
shot and so they stayed after that, and tried to 
fire themselves. But when the second one came 
plumping into them they knew the truth — and 
the officers sent them to cover, just as any officers 
who knew their business would have done. ’ ’ 

suppose it’s war,” said Arthur, a little 
gloomily. ‘ ‘ But — ’ ’ 

‘‘It’s war right enough, ’ ’ said Paul, with a shud- 
der. “It’s not like the pictures we’ve seen of 
Waterloo, but it’s war. But there’ll be plenty of 
the other sort, too, before it’s over, Arthur. You 
needn’t worry about that. The Germans haven’t 
had time to bring up very many men yet, but I ex- 
pect they will, and they may try to rush the forts. 
Did you notice that they were stretching a lot of 
wire fencing near Fort Boncelles when we passed 
it last night?” 

“Yes. What was that for?” 

‘^To stop an infantry charge, or to help to stop 
it. You see, an attack by infantry is likely to be 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FKONT 


123 


made at night, when it’s harder to see the men 
being massed. And the wire fence piles up a 
charge. Oh, I think there’ll be some pretty bad 
fighting of the old-fashioned sort before they cap- 
ture Liege ! ’ ’ 

“I don’t see how they can capture Liege at all,” 
said Arthur, stoutly. ‘ ‘ The firing of the guns has 
almost stopped; it seems to me that they’ve been 
beaten back.” 

‘ ‘ It seems so, but I ’m afraid it isn ’t really true, ’ ’ 
said Paul, with a smile. ‘‘The Germans haven’t 
begun yet, Arthur. And there are millions of them. 
They can put thousands of men in the field to our 
hundreds — they will outnumber us ten to one, at 
least. Liege isn’t supposed to hold cut against 
them very long. No one expects it to. If it checks 
them, keeps them from spreading all over Belgium 
in their first rush, it will have done its part fully.” 

“I’d like to see them beaten here, just the 
same,” said Arthur, stubbornly. 

“I’m going down to report what happened,” 
said Paul. “Keep watch, Arthur, but I don’t 


124 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


think we can do much more here. I believe that 
we won’t have to stay here very much longer.” 

Boncelles had ceased firing by this time, and the 
close, immediate din was at an end for the time, 
at least. There was still heavy firing from the 
northwest, which Paul guessed was from the guns 
of Fort Pontisse, replying to an attack launched 
from Vise and Argenteau. Major du Chaillu had 
said that the Germans would almost certainly try 
to cross the Meuse at Vise, which was the best 
place they could choose to launch the cavalry raid 
he said would be likely to form a part of their 
strategy. 

‘^AVe will have troops there,” he said, “to try 
to hold them back, supported by Fort Pontisse. 
But if they come in great force they can probably 
break through there, for the place is not well 
suited to defence.” 

Everywhere else in the circle that was closing 
about Liege the firing seemed to have died away. 
And Paul was anxious to know how the opening 
skirmish — as he correctly judged it to have 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


125 


been — had gone, as well as to make his report of 
what he and Arthur had seen. Delaunay was 
waiting at the Boncelles end of the wire. 

“You are there at lastl*’ he said, relief in his 
voice. “I was afraid you and your brave friend 
had been hurt.’' 

“No, we’re all right. It’s the Germans who 
were hurt I You smashed that battery to pieces, 
lieutenant! They never got a single gun ready to 
fire. Your second shell smashed the two that were 
in position, and the shells after that simply swept 
the location of the battery. I don’t think the guns 
can be of much use — not for a long time, and 
until they have been thoroughly repaired, at any 
rate. How has the fighting gone elsewhere?” 

“We are holding them along the Meuse, north 
of Pontisse. They attacked with their infantry 
there, but we beat them back easily. ” 

“That is good news! We are holding them all 
along the line, then?” 

“Yes, for the present. But they have not 
brought up large forces yet. When they do^ it 


126 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


will soon be over unless we receive heavy reen- 
forcements. Yon two had better come in, if you 
can get away from your position without being de- 
tected. There is no more for you to do there. You 
have already accomplished far more than we 
hoped.’’ 

‘‘We are to report to you at Fort Boncelles?” 

“It makes no difference. No, I think you had 
better try to get into Liege itself and find Major 
du Chaillu. Good luck!” 

“Thank you, lieutenant, and the same to Fort 
Boncelles! will try to escape from here. I 
should think we ought to have no great trouble, 
for the Germans will be busy at their battery 
again, as soon as they find the shelling has 
ceased. ’ ’ 

“Yes. We will give them another round or two 
at intervals during the night, just to let them know 
that we still think of them. ’ ’ 

When he had finished talking to the fort, Paul 
proceeded to hide the telephone as well as he 
could. Sooner or later the Germans were certain 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


127 


to come to the garage and it was desirable, for a 
good many reasons, that they should find no evi- 
dences of the use to which it had been put. For 
one thing, it was impossible to tell what was going 
to happen. It might well turn out that further 
use could he made of the telephone later. And 
when Paul had done, he felt that it was highly 
improbable that the Germans could discover the 
installation. And then, just as he finished, Arthur 
cried out in a voice sharp with alarm, and Paul 
rushed up to join him. 

The ground about the garage seemed suddenly 
to have sprouted soldiers. There were men every- 
where, hundreds of them, advancing in loose or- 
der. For a moment Paul hung to the window, fas- 
cinated by the sight. Then he caught himself. 

‘‘It’s an attack on Boncelles!” he said. “I’m 
going to warn them if I have time. I don’t care 
what happens. Arthur, get away from here! If 
they come in, pretend you can’t speak at all.” 

And on the word he was off, rushing down 
again, tearing away the cover he had provided for 


128 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the telephone. He had to wait an agonizing two or 
three minutes before there was any answer, and 
once more he was sure that the wire must have 
been discovered and cut. But at last there was an 
answering voice in his ear, and he gave his news. 

Infantry r’ asked Delaunay. ‘‘They must be 
mad!’’ 

“They are planning a surprise attack, I sup- 
pose,’' said Paul. “There are a great many of 
them — and I am almost sure I saw some machine 
guns.” 

“If their battery hadn’t been put out, I could 
understand,” said Delaunay. “They might have 
attacked under the cover of a heavy fire from that. 
But to bring infantry against fortifications! It 
seems like suicide.” 

“I must go now,” said Paul. “They are all 
around us. I don’t know how soon they may come 
in. You will be ready for them ? ’ ’ 

“Don’t worry about that! We’ll give them a 
hotter reception than they expect!” 

Paul smashed the telephone now. Perhaps the 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


129 


Germans, if they found it, would think it had been 
useless from the beginning of the fighting. And, 
just as he went upstairs, there was a crash at the 
door, and half a dozen German soldiers, led by 
an officer, broke in. In a moment Paul was seized; 
in another two men had gone upstairs, and re> 
turned, each with a hand gripping one of Arthur’s 
arms. 

“What are you doing hereT” asked the officer, 
in German. Paul understood him very well, but 
thought it better to pretend ignorance. He 
answered in French, saying he did not understand, 
and the German officer repeated his question in 
French. 

“We — we lived in the house that was burned,” 
said Paul, pretending to be greatly frightened. 
“We did not know where to go or what to do. So 
we stayed here.” 

‘ ‘ How long have you been here ? ’ ’ 

“Since last night.” 

“You heard the explosions just now?” 

“Yes. I did not know what they were.” 


130 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


‘‘Take them back,’’ said the lieutenant to a cor- 
poral. “You are in territory occupied by our 
forces where no civilians have any right to be,” 
he added, speaking to Paul. “Unless you can 
prove that you are innocent, you will be tried and 
condemned as spies. Have you any arms here?” 

“No, sir,” said Paul. 

A quick search confirmed his statement. But 
though that seemed to count in their favor, the 
order was not countermanded. In a few moments 
they were on their way through the German lines, 
and in half an hour they reached what was plainly 
the headquarters of a brigade at least, perhaps of 
a whole division. There they were thrust into a 
small hut that already contained three other, pris- 
oners, Belgian peasants. Outside the door there 
was a guard. They were prisoners of war and if 
the truth about their doings came out, they would 
almost certainly be shot, despite their youth. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE SPY 

^^What will they do to us, do you think T’ asked 
Arthur. He was trembling, but with excitement^ 
not from fear. 

^‘Nothing, unless they can prove that we have 
actually been working against them,’’ answered 
Paul. ‘‘And I don’t see how they can.” 

“If those two who chased us when we ran off 
with their motorcycle saw us, they’d be able to 
prove it, ’ ’ said Arthur. 

“Yes, I hadn’t thought of them. But they’re 
prisoners fortunately. I hope they’ll be well 
looked after, too. It would be mighty awkward 
if they turned up here suddenly. They know just 
how important were the plans we got and these 
others don’t know anything about that, at all. I 
believe that our people knowing just where the 
German guns were placed made a great deal of 
difference. ’ ’ 


131 


132 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


The coming of a soldier interrupted them. He 
told them that they were to he examined at once. 

‘‘Then you will be shot,” he said, showing his 
teeth. ‘ ‘ As you deserve, ' ' he added, trying to look 
fierce. 

But there was a twinkle in his eye that both 
Paul and Arthur saw. They had been treated 
very well so far. They had seen nothing, as a mat- 
ter of fact, to make them think that the Germans 
were brutal. They made war, and that is brutal 
in itself. The gentlest men, when they are en- 
gaged in a campaign, must do things that they 
would never attempt of their own free will. 

The soldiers now led the way to a house that both 
boys knew well, for it belonged to a friend of their 
uncle, whom they had often visited. It was being 
used as headquarters now by a part of the German 
staff, and was full of officers who looked at them 
curiously. They still wore their Boy Scout uni- 
forms. There had been no opportunity, as a mat- 
ter of fact, for them to change their clothes before 
the fire, and all the other clothes they possessed 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


133 


had been destroyed, of course, at that time. 

“You were caught by our troops in territory 
occupied by us — within our actual battle line, 
indeed,’^ said a colonel who received them. “Did 
you not receive warning that all civilians were to 
leave the zone in which you were found!’’ 

They could deny that truthfully, and did. Paul 
was rather glad, as the matter had turned out, that 
his plan of pretending to be dumb had not been 
tried. He knew that it would be very hard for Ar- 
thur to tell an untruth, even by suggestion, excel- 
lent as was the excuse for doing so. Arthur could 
understand, of course, that to deceive the enemy 
was permissible, and, more than that, praise- 
worthy. It was a question simply of whether he 
could hope to do so successfully., 

“The thing to be done now is to get rid of you,” 
said the colonel. He frowned severely, but, as 
with the soldier who had brought them for exam- 
ination, there was a smile behind the frown. “I 
might have you shot, but we should save ammuni- 
tion. And I might send you back to Germany, to 


134 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


be confined in a fortress, but that would mean that 
we should have to feed you. If I* let you go through 
the lines toward Huy, will you promise not to 
come back ? ’ ^ 

‘‘Yes, sir,’’ said Paul, heartily. He was amazed 
by the prospect of release, but he realized, of 
course, that while he and Arthur knew what dan- 
gerous enemies they had already proved them- 
selves, the colonel did not. 

And so, to their surprise and Paul ’s relief, they 
were soon being escorted through the German 
lines, their direction being southwest, in the gen- 
eral direction of Huy, the Belgian city nearest 
to Liege of the border line of fortresses. Huy, 
though not as strong as either Liege or Namur, 
was a link in the chain, having been designed 
chiefly to supply a base for the centre of an army 
resisting the advance of an invader, with its wings 
resting on the more powerful fortifications of 
Liege and Namur. 

Their escort was the same good-natured soldier 
who had taken them before Colonel Schmidt, and 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


135 


he paid little attention to them. Perhaps he 
thought that there was no need to watch them 
closely; perhaps he was simply negligent. But, 
whatever the reason, Paul was able to discover 
the composition of the force upon which they had 
stumbled with a good deal of exactness. He 
learned to what regiment their escort belonged, 
and he also saw numbers on helmets and other 
identifying marks that supplied him with much 
other information. Neither he nor Arthur knew 
the real meaning of what they saw, but both boys 
knew that if they reached the Belgian lines they 
would find officers of the intelligence department 
to whom such facts would be valuable in the ex- 
treme. It was important, as both knew, for the 
Belgians and their allies to know something of 
the German plan. 

Paul, indeed, had spoken of that very point to 
Arthur after their arrest. 

‘Hf we see what regiments are here, others can 
use what we tell them to determine what army 
corps are being used in this attack, and perhaps 


136 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


what the general plan is/’ he had said. ‘‘Then 
the French will know where to mass their troops. ” 
“Last stop I” said the soldier, finally. Some 
time before they had passed a sentry and for 
nearly a mile they had seen only outposts. “I 
must go back now. You are all right. We have 
passed the last of our posts. The next soldiers you 
see will be Belgians, unless we have cavalry in this 
direction. Perhaps this is a mistake. It might be 
better if I shot you myself, to make sure — eh 7” 
“You needn’t trouble,” said Arthur, and the 
soldier roared with laughter. 

“All right, then, I won’t!” he declared. “You 
are good boys. I am glad they let you go. But 
what will you do? You live in Liege, don’t you? 
You can’t get back there.” 

“We have friends in Brussels,” said Paul. “I 
think we shall do very well now, thank you.” 

“Good! Then I will go back, and you will go 
forward — so I Good-bye I ” 

“Good-bye!” they echoed. 

He drew himself up, stiffly, saluted, and then, 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT U3? 

laughing, broke into the famous German goose 
step, used as a mark of respect to superior officers^ 
for a few paces. In a few moments he was gone. 

‘‘I don’t believe he wanted to come into Bel- 
gium and fight against us,” said Arthur. ‘‘He 
was splendid to us, wasn’t hef And the colonel 
was kind, too. It made me feel — oh, I don’t 
know — ” 

” As if we were being sneaky ? I know just what 
you mean. I felt like that, too. But I told myself 
that we couldn’t think of whether we liked a few 
Germans who were good to us — that they weren ’t 
just people, they were part of the enemy.” 

‘‘Yes. That’s what I thought of, too. But it 
was hard just the same, Paul. I did feel like a 
sneak. But I suppose we are doing what is 
right.” 

“I wish there was some way of getting the news 
of what we’ve learned to-night into Liege,” said 
Paul, frowning. “I don’t see just what it all 
means, but I’m quite sure it’s important. I tell 
you what — I believe they’re sending even more 


138 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


troops into Belgium than anyone thought they 
would. That soldier was from a regiment that 
is stationed with the army corps that has its head- 
quarters in Koenigsburg, near the Russian bor- 
der. It seems to me they are going to leave fewer 
troops there than anyone expected. Perhaps the 
staff knows that, but then perhaps it doesn T. ’ ’ 
‘*If we get to Huy they can send word from 
there, said Arthur. ^‘They must have wireless 
working, even if the Germans have cut all the 
wires. ^ ^ 

‘‘That^s so! I hadn’t thought. I don’t know 
just where we are, though, do you!” 

‘ ‘ Not exactly. They tried to keep us from find- 
ing out, I think. But I watched the stars when- 
ever I could, and I think if we turn to the right 
here and keep on northeast, we’ll come to the river 
road from Liege to Huy. Then we shouldn ’t have 
any trouble at all, so far as I can see. ’ ’ 

Paul looked up at the stars himself, studied 
the lay of the land for a moment, and then nodded 
in agreement. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


139 


‘ * Yes/ ^ he said. ^ ^ That ’s what we dl have to do. 
‘*Come on, then. We’ll cut across the fields. I’d 
rather do that than take chances on finding a path 
or a road. It can’t he so very far, do you think 
so?” 

‘‘No. Listen, Paul! What’s that?” 

The exclamation was prompted by a sudden 
roar in the direction as nearly as they could guess 
of Fort Boncelles. At the same time the great 
searchlights that were steadily sweeping earth 
and air from the forts around Liege seemed to 
focus on one spot — the spot, they soon deter- 
mined, from which the renewed sound of heavy 
firing came. 

“That must he the attack on Fort Boncelles. 
that we were afraid of,” said Paul. 

“Well, they were ready for it, Paul. You don’t 
think it can succeed, do you ? ’ ’ 

“I think we ought to know pretty soon. No, 
I don ’t see how a fortified position can be carried 
by an infantry attack when its garrison is entirely 
prepared, unless the force is so overwhelming that 


140 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the attacking force can lose an awful lot of men 
— more men than the Germans have altogether, 
If we saw all, or even nearly all, of them. ’ ’ 

They stayed where they were for a few minutes, 
listening to the firing. For the first time the note 
of real hand-to-hand fighting came into the battle 
din. They could hear the crashing volleys of rifle 
fire, and the explosive crackling of machine guns 
coming into play for the first time. That was con- 
firmation enough of their guess that a regular 
assault on the line of forts was in progress. 

^‘Tou see that just shows how important it is for 
them to capture Liege quickly, Arthur, ’ ’ said Paul. 
‘^They know perfectly well that when they bring 
up a few more army corps and their big guns they 
can batter the forts to pieces and just overwhelm 
our garrison. ’ ’ 

‘‘But they want to have the path clear for the 
extra army corps. That’s what you mean, isn’t 
It, Paul?” 

“Exactly. They want the way through and 
around Liege clear, so that the great army, when 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


141 


it’s all ready, can sweep straight on and strike the 
French before they ’re ready for them. They don ’t 
want to bother with us at all. So they’re willing 
to lose all those men just to save a few days.” 

‘‘But why are a few days so tremendously im- 
portant to them?” 

“They’ve got to strike before France is ready, 
because they can’t use their whole army against 
France. They must keep a great many corps to 
use against Eussia, or else Eussian soldiers will 
get to Berlin before the Germans get to Paris. And 
their chance is to do it in the first few days of the 
war. France takes nearly a week longer than 
Germany to mobilize, and Eussia almost a month 
longer than either France or Germany. You see 
what we will do at Liege and Namur is to hold up 
the Germans long enough to make up for their 
being able to mobilize more quickly.” 

The firing was dying away now; the heavy guns 
resumed their work, and the lighter machine guns 
were silent. 

“I think they’ve repulsed the attack all right,” 


142 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


said Paul. ‘‘That’s why the fire has slackened. 
Come on! We really haven’t so much time to 
lose.” 

So they struck off from the road, crossing into 
a field full of grain. 

“It seems a shame to trample down this grain, 
but it’s got mighty little chance of being har- 
vested this season anyhow,” said Arthur. 

“Yes. The German army will advance this way 
probably, and, even if it didn’t, I don’t believe 
there would be men enough to garner the crop.” 

Suddenly Arthur stumbled. He had walked 
against a man who was lying amid the grain. Now 
the man started up with a cry. And they both 
recognized Bidder — the man who had dropped 
the all-impertant plans I 


CHAPTER Xn 


A CLOSE SHAVE 

Blind instinct sent them both running, though 
a moment of reflection would have told them that 
to run was the worst thing they could have done. 
Bidder had been asleep and he did not arouse him- 
self fully at first. And perhaps that saved them. 
He did fire after them once but his aim was bad, 
and before he could fire again they had leaped a 
hedge and dropped out of his sight into a sunken 
road that crossed the fields parallel to the course 
they were taking toward the river road to Huy. 
They had a good start and Ridder was fifty yards 
behind them when they reached the shelter of the 
road. Here Paul pulled himself together. 

‘ ‘ Stop ! ’ ’ he said to Arthur, seizing his chum by 
the arm. ^‘Here, get right into the shadow of 
the hedge here, at the side of the road — there’s 
almost a ditch, too. If he follows us, he may go 
straight on, and he won’t know which direction 

143 


144 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


we took. It^s the best chance we have to escape.^’ 

‘‘Do yon think he recognized asked 

Aj'thnr. 

“I don’t know. But our running away like that 
made him suspicious — we can be sure of that 
much, anyhow. Look out! I hear him coming!” 

Down they crouched, just in time. Bidder came 
tumbling through the hedge, growling fiercely. 

“ If I were sure ! ” he said fiercely and under his 
breath, so that they could scarcely hear him. 
“Those verflutchen boys! If I knew that they 
were the ones who stole my papers!” 

In the middle of the road he paused and rubbed 
his eyes. He reeled a little as he stood; it was plain 
that the man was in the last stages of exhaustion. 
The two scouts, even without knowing in detail 
what the duties of a spy in wartime might be, could 
understand Bidder’s exhaustion. They could 
guess how much he must have done since they had 
last seen him. 

As they crouched, watching him, he dropped 
his head, like a dog looking for a scent suddenly 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


145 


vanished, and seemed to hesitate, wondering which 
way to go. He circled around, apparently looking 
for something to guide him. The road was hard, 
and baked dry. There had been no rain for a good 
many days, and so their footprints did not show. 
Bidder tossed his head at last in decision. The 
two scouts began to breathe again in a more 
normal fashion when he turned down the road and 
went along, still muttering. He swayed from side 
to side as he walked. 

^ ‘ Poor chap ! ^ ^ said Paul, finally. ‘ * I feel sorry 
for him! And I’m certainly glad he was so tired! 
I wouldn’t give much for our chances if he 
had caught us. He knows by this time, you can be 
sure, what we did with those plans. ’ ’ 

don’t feel sorry for him — he’s a spy!” said 
Arthur. 

‘^We’re spies, too,” said Paul, soberly. ^^And 
a good many Belgians will be spies, and French- 
men, too, before this war has been going on very 
long. It’s not nice work. There isn’t the glory 
and the excitement about it that there is for the 


146 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


soldiers who are doing the fighting. But a spy 
does more for his country, if he succeeds in getting 
some really important information, than a whole 
regiment of men who do nothing but fight. ’ ^ 

suppose so,’’ admitted Arthur, grudgingly. 
‘‘It’s safe to go on now, isn’t it?” 

“Yes. I don ’t think we ’ll find our friend Bidder 
in the next field! And I hope we won’t run into 
any more Germans of any sort.” 

As they walked along, the searchlights still 
flashed to their right and at intervals sounds of 
heavy firing came to them from the same direc- 
tion. But the steady, ceaseless cannonading was 
over, and there had been no renewal of the sounds 
that indicated fighting at close quarters. Liege, 
it was easy to understand, was holding out. 

Their course across the fields finally brought 
them to the river road, where they felt themselves 
at home. This road they knew thoroughly, 
having traversed it many and many a time. Now 
they were well on their way to Huy and felt that 
there was no reason now why they should not ar- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


147 


rive safely. But suddenly Paul stopped. 

There ^s no use in our getting to Huy before 
morning, before it^s light, anyway,’’ he said. 
‘^The sentries wouldn’t let us by. You know this 
is wartime. We’re not used to that yet. Every- 
thing is changed. I ’m tired, and I know you are, 
too. I think the best thing we can do is to get 
some sleep. We can’t tell what we may not have 
to do after we get to Huy, and we’d better be 
fresh and ready for whatever turns up.” 

‘‘I am tired,” admitted Arthur. ‘‘I think 
you’re right. Where shall we sleep?” 

We ’ll find a place before long,” said Paul. 
‘^How peaceful it is here! If we couldn’t see the 
searchlights and hear the guns now and then 
there ’d be nothing to make it seem as if there was 
real fighting going on within a few miles. ’ ’ 
Houses were fairly frequent as they went along, 
but all were dark. Their occupants, if they had 
not fied from the nearness of war, were all asleep. 
They were farm houses in the main; here, as every- 
where in Belgium, the land was cut up into innu- 


148 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


merable tiny patches, even smaller than the 
peasant farms of France. In the fields were end- 
less rows of vegetables — beans, turnips, cabbages, 
and garden truck of all sorts. This was the sort 
of country that had made Belgium known for 
years as the vegetable garden of Europe. Finally 
they stopped near a dark house, and made them- 
selves comfortable in the lee of a haystack. And 
there they slept until the light of the sun came to 
rouse them. They awoke to see a peasant boy 
staring stupidly at them. 

''Good-morning! said Paul, rousing himself. 
"Can we get breakfast in your house if we pay for 
itr^ 

"I suppose so,’’ said the peasant. "My mother 
may have some for you. My father has gone to 
fight.” 

They followed him to the little cottage, and 
there they got what the woman could give them 
for breakfast — eggs and milk, as it turned out. 
In a few days, though she did not realize this, 
neither would be obtainable thereabout at any 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


149 


price; the German host would have spread over 
the countryside like a swarm of locusts. Perhaps 
it would pay for what it ate, hut it would eat at 
all events, regardless of that, and the money it 
might leave in the place of the food it took would 
be valueless, since money can buy nothing when 
there is nothing to he sold. 

But these were things of which neither the peas- 
ant woman nor the two scouts thought. They ate 
their breakfast with relish, not having realized 
until they saw the food how hungry they really 
were, and then, refreshed in mind and body, they 
began the last stage of their journey to Huy. They 
had not so very far to go and they entered the 
Belgian city to the tune of the distant cannon at 
Liege. 

In Huy there was little to make one think of 
war. People were grouped in the streets, waiting 
eagerly for the news of what was going on at 
Liege, for all sorts of rumors were spreading 
about. On one side it was said that England had 
already declared war and had destroyed the Ger- 


150 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


man fleet; on the other that England had refused 
to fight at all. But most of the people of the town 
went about their business in the most unconcerned 
way, as if the invasion of the country could not 
possibly affect them, and their own affairs were 
still the most important things in the world for 
them. 

There was only a small force of Belgian troops 
in Huy, as Paul and Arthur soon learned. Ajid, 
to their dismay, they found that the officer in 
charge refused absolutely to listen to them! He 
was a pompous, greatly excited little man, most 
of whose service had been in the Congo, and he 
laughed at the suggestion that they could have 
information of value. 

‘^But if you will send a wireless message to 
Liege Major du Chaillu will tell you that our in- 
formation is correct,’’ pleaded Paul. ‘‘At least 
he will tell you that we gave valuable news before, 
and that we can be trusted.” 

“There are other things for the wireless to do 
in times like these,” said the officer pompously. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


151 


off with you, now. I have no time to waste 
on hoys!’’ 

^^No wonder the Germans can win!” said Paul, 
bitterly. ^‘What chance has an army with an offi- 
cer so stupid as that?” 

He had given up the attempt to convince the 
commandant, for it was obvious that they would 
only waste time and breath if they persisted. 

‘ ‘ But what are we to do ? ” asked Arthur. ‘ ‘ We 
must let them know in some way. ’ ’ 

^^We must go to Brussels,” said Paul. ‘‘There 
are those there who will know that we can be 
trusted, and we may find a way of getting a wire- 
less message through to Major du Chaillu.” 

But, as they soon found, it was one thing to 
decide to go to the capital, and quite another to 
accomplish their desire. The railway was choked 
by military movements. Troops and supplies of 
all sorts had usurped every means of travel, ex- 
cept by walking. Though Huy itself might appear 
to be normal, no other part of the country was, 
as it was easy to discover when an attempt 


152 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


was made to do even the most ordinary things. 

‘‘Well, if we can^t ride, we can start walking,^* 
said Paul. “If we wait here we’ll never get any- 
where, that’s sure. There’s more confusion here 
than there was at Liege, and a lot less reason. The 
thing to do is to get away before they close the 
town up absolutely, so that we can’t even do that. ” 

But even that resolution could not be carried 
out without difficulties. For some reason — they 
learned later that it was because new troops were 
advancing from that direction — they were not 
allowed to pass along the road leading to Namur, 
which was the logical one for them to take in an 
effort to reach Brussels. Their plan had been to 
pass through Gembloux and Wavre, after turning 
around Namur. They were obliged, instead, to 
start back toward Liege, turning north after a few 
miles and heading for the railroad at Saint Trond. 

“If we get that far I think we’ll have a chance 
to get on a train,” said Paul. “From all I hear, 
there will be troops there, covering Brussels.” 

‘ ‘ Covering Brussels ? But it ’s nowhere near the 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


153 


city!’’ exclaimed Arthur in great amazement. 

‘‘That doesn’t matter, Arthur. Brussels will 
be defended at long range or not at all. If the Ger- 
mans get past Tirlemont and Haelen they will get 
to Brussels, I think, without any more opposi- 
tion. ’ ’ 

“But why? There are no fortifications there.” 

‘ ‘ I believe there are — by this time, ’ ’ said Paul. 
“Earthworks, at least. You see, it would simply 
mean terrible destruction and suffering if a city 
like Brussels were defended. It has no forts, and 
it would be a simple matter for the Germans to 
stand off and bombard it. It is like that with 
Louvain. It would be better to let the Germans 
capture that town without resistance than to force 
them to bombard it and destroy the famous old 
buildings there. If a great city cannot be de- 
fended by an army fifty miles away, it is better 
not to defend it at all. ” 

The idea of such a tame yielding of Brussels, 
where he had been born and had lived most of his 
life, seemed to depress Arthur greatly. For a long 


154 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


time they went along in silence. Then a peasant 
came along with a cart and offered them a ride. 
This man seemed to know little or nothing of the 
war, although, like them, he must have been able 
to hear the sullen growling of the cannon from 
Liege, that showed the fortress was still holding 
out. They rode for several miles with this man, 
until he had to turn off. Then they began walk- 
ing again. And now, before them, directly in their 
path but still some considerable distance away, 
they saw smoke rising on the horizon, a pall of 
heavy, brownish smoke with patches of black. It 
was not at all like the faint haze that hung over 
Liege, the result of smokeless powder. 

* ‘ There must be a fire, ^ ’ said Arthur. 

should think so,^’ said Paul, grimly. ^‘The 
Uhlans are ahead of us, Arthur. ^ ^ 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE CIVIC GUARDS 

That this was no mistaken gness they soon 
learned. Half a mile of fast walking brought 
them to a small village, and there they met a 
stream of panic-stricken refugees, fleeing from 
their own burning homes a little further on. The 
people of the village swarmed about the newcom- 
ers, exclaiming in horror and anger at their 
stories. Paul and Arthur listened. 

German cavalry, it seemed, had ridden in early 
that morning, and posted notices, in German, 
French and the Walloon dialect that many of the 
peasantry still used. These notices warned all 
the people that the German army had occupied 
the town or village, and that no act of violence 
against the invaders must he committed. All 
arms, it read, were to be surrendered, and certain 
rules about keeping lights in every window and 
leaving all doors unlocked must be strictly obeyed. 

155 


156 


THE BELGIANS TO THE PllONT 


If obedience were given, said the Germans, no 
harm would be done to the occupied places or to 
any of their citizens. 

f 

‘^Then they rode away,’^ a woman was saying. 

And presently foot soldiers came in their places. 
And — a shot was fired. It struck an officer. Then 
they went into the house where the man who fired 
the shot had been, and they brought out every man 
they found in it, and killed them right before all 
of us, before they set the house on fire. And they 
set other houses on fire, too, where they said they 
found guns and pistols! They said we were mur- 
derers! Is it murder to defend oneself in time of 
war? My man is with the army! Is he a mur- 
derer ? ^ ^ 

Arthur was panting with anger as he listened. 
Paul, seeing this, drew him aside. 

*‘I suppose you think she’s right, don’t you, 
Arthur?” he asked, quietly. 

^‘Of course! If you were in your home and you 
saw German soldiers coming, wouldn’t you shoot 
as many as you could ? ’ ’ 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


157 


‘‘Perhaps. But I^d expect them to take me out 
and shoot me, when they caught me, and burn my 
house. I wouldn^t call them brutes and barba- 
rians for doing it.’^ 

‘ ‘ But why ? Isn ’t it war to attack the enemy ? * ’ 
“Yes, if soldiers do it. Soldiers ought to fight 
soldiers. If women and men who aren’t in uni- 
form fight, they must expect to be attacked them- 
selves. Listen, Arthur! If our soldiers were in 
Germany they’d have to do just what the Germans 
are doing here, to protect themselves. They’d 
have to frighten the people into playing fair, if it 
couldn’t he done any other way. .It isn’t fair to 
hide and shoot a man who isn’t expecting it, is it? 
At any rate, those are the laws of war. France 
and Belgium have agreed to them, and bound 
themselves by them, just as the Germans have 
done. So we can’t complain if the Germans stick 
to the rules. Don’t do anything foolish now. The 
Germans may be here any minute, if they’re as 
close to us as these people say.” 

“I’ll do whatever you say, Paul,” Arthur 


158 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


agreed, finally. ‘‘But it doesn’t seem sensible to 
me.” 

“It is sensible and right, believe me,” said Paul, 
earnestly. “And I think we’ll stay here, Arthur, 
for a little while, anyway. I believe there’ll be a 
chance for us to do some good work here. If we 
can keep these poor people from acting so that the 
Germans will destroy their village it will be a good 
thing, won’t it?” 

“Ye — es, I suppose so. Yes, I can see that, 
Paul. Even if I think it’s all wrong, I can see that 
the Germans are too strong. They can do what- 
ever they like, whether it ’s right or not. ’ ’ 

“That’s one way to look at it,” said Paul. 
“That’s one of the things I hope to try to make 
them understand — that they’d better submit to 
injustice than lose their homes. Might makes 
right, though the Germans have a good excuse for 
acting in the way they do.” 

“Still I don’t see what good we can expect to 
do, Paul. These people here don’t know us, and I 
don’t believe they’ll pay any attention to any- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


159 


thing we say,’’ deep doubt written on his face. 

‘‘I think perhaps they will, Arthur. You see, 
we’re in uniform and I’m hoping that they don’t 
know anything about the Boy Scouts here. They 
may think our uniform means that we’re con- 
nected with the army in some fashion, and respect 
it.” 

“I didn’t think of that! I say, that would be 
rather good fun, wouldn’t it?” 

‘‘Look!” said Paul, suddenly. “That’s just 
what I was afraid of!” 

A dozen men, in ill assorted and badly fitting 
uniforms, were coming from the inn that was the 
dominating feature, aside from the inevitable par- 
ish church, of the village. 

“They belong to the civic guard,” said Paul. 
‘*I’m afraid they are going to try to resist the Ger- 
mans. Look at those guns!” 

“They’re the old-fashioned ones they used in 
the army years ago, aren’t they, Paul?” 

“Yes, and they’d be about as much good against 
the new German rifles as so many pea-shooters!” 


160 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


The sight of the patchwork uniforms, worn by 
armed men, seemed to be a magnet for the panic- 
stricken inhabitants of the village. So far the peo- 
ple had been far too busy with their fears and their 
eagerness to save themselves to pay any attention 
to the two scouts, and so Paul and Arthur were 
able to attach themselves to the crowd and follow 
the civic guardsmen without exciting too much at- 
tention. There were curious glances at their uni- 
forms, but Paul was well pleased by this. He 
wanted the people to notice their khaki suits, and 
he was glad that they seemed to be rather mysti- 
fied. 

The leader of the guardsmen was a big, burly 
man, by trade a butcher. Under his direction his 
men and a host of volunteer helpers proceeded to 
erect a barricade across the road by which, it 
seemed, the Germans must enter the village if they 
came. Old furniture, broken down wagons, mat- 
tresses — anything that came to hand was used in 
building the barricade. Then it was covered in 
front with branches of trees and bushes. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


161 


‘ ‘ There ! ’ ’ said the big butcher, when it was done 
to his satisfaction. ‘‘Now we can take up our place 
behind that — and God help the German pigs! 
Jean, do you and Marcel go up in the windows of 
Boerman’s house, there, and make holes in the 
shutters to shoot through. If they drive us from 
this barricade we will take to the houses and the 
roofs, and do what we can from there.’’ 

A cheer greeted his speech. 

“ Now we shall be safe ! ’ ’ said one woman. ‘ ‘ Ah, 
if they had had one like Raymond the butcher to 
show them how to fight, those poor people would 
not have been driven from their homes! He is a 
man ! ’ ’ 

“I think so, too, Paul!” whispered Arthur. 
“It’s something to make a fight like this, isn ’t it ? ” 

“Yes, it is something,” said Paul. “It’s sui- 
cide, that’s what it is! How long can they stand 
against the Germans? They will throw their own 
lives away and they won’t save the village. In- 
stead, they will simply make it certain that it will 
be destroyed. The Germans won’t fight them on 


162 THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 

even terms. If they find that the place is to be 
defended they ^11 bring a couple of guns into action 
and shell the place. In five minutes every house 
will be on fire, and they will shoot down the men as 
they try to run from the flames. Wait I I’m going 
to see what I can do!” 

Arthur did not seem to be convinced. But when 
Paul ran forward and stood before the crowd by 
the barricade, Arthur was by his side. He was 
like a good soldier, obeying his superior officer, as 
he felt Paul was, even though he neither under- 
stood nor approved the orders he received. 

Now, indeed, the khaki uniforms of the scouts 
attracted their share of attention. There was a 
murmur of surprise; one or two lads laughed 
aloud. But the chief emotion of the crowd was 
one of curiosity. As Paul walked up to the big, 
self-satisfied butcher, the noise behind the barri- 
cade died away. 

“Are you the leader here?” asked Paul. 

“Yes — chosen by the Garde Civique of the vil- 
lage of Hannay, in this time of danger!” an- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


163 


nounced the butcher, swelling up with pride, 

^‘Then it is your duty to save the people en- 
trusted to your care by ordering them to gp to 
their homes and to stay there quietly if the Ger- 
mans come,’^ said Paul. “Also to call upon your 
guards and all others in the village to give up their 
arms and on no account to fire a shot against the 
Germans if they come.’’ 

“ Eh ? ” said the astonished Raymond. ‘ ‘ Is that 
the way to save the village from the Germans?” 

“Is it not better to give in to them and know 
that no one will be hurt than to make it necessary 
for them to fire with their cannon? As for your 
men, they can do nothing here. If they want to 
serve their village and their country, let them en- 
list in the army. ’ ’ 

< < Eh ? ’ ’ said Raymond again. He was half angry 
and wholly puzzled. Paul did not defer to him at 
ail; he spoke aggressively, and as if he were en- 
tirely sure of himself and of what he was saying. 
“Who are you, that you come here giving or- 


ders?” 


164 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


^ ^ I giving no orders, ’ ^ said Paul. ^ ^ I am only 
telling you what the government wishes. The 
Germans do not recognize the Garde Civique as 
soldiers at all. They are treated as spies, or as 
outlaws. Any man who bears arms against the 
Germans, or shoots at any German, will be shot as 
soon as he is caught. ’ ^ 

Paul spoke purposely in a loud tone. He saw 
that his words were making an impression, not so 
much on Eaymond as on some of the others. 

^‘They won^t make prisoners of war of you, you 
see,’^ he said. Those who arenT killed by the 
shells will be caught, and then they will be shot or 
hung. They won’t be sent back to Germany, to be 
safe and sound, with plenty of food and a good 
place to sleep. They will be treated just like men 
who kill other men in time of peace, except that 
they won’t have a trial.” 

^‘What of itr’ asked Eaymond, who was be- 
ginning to realize that this sort of talk was bad for 
his authority. ‘^We can only die once for the 
Fatherland! Isn’t that so?” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


165 


‘‘Then die so that it will be of service for you to 
die!^^ said Paul. “Tear down your barricade. 
Give up your arms. And then let those of you who 
want to fight go to Huy and enlist. There will be 
plenty of fighting for you then, and if you are cap- 
tured you will be treated like soldiers, and not 
like murderers and robbers. If you were not pa- 
triots you would not be willing to do this. Then 
why not do what will be useful ? ’ ’ 

For a moment there was silence. Raymond 
stood still, his mouth open, staring at the two 
scouts. And then there came sudden aid for Paul. 
From behind the barricade a small, determined 
looking woman appeared. She marched straight 
up to Raymond. 

‘ ‘ Give me that gun ! ^ ’ she said. 

There was a titter and in a moment it had spread 
until it became a roar of laughter. Ra^unond the 
blusterer, wholly unnerved by the sudden appear- 
ance of his small wife, surrendered at once, and 
without conditions. 

“Be otf, the rest of you!^^ she said. “I daresay 


166 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the young gentleman is quite right! As if you 
could fight against the Germans here!’^ 
Raymond’s wife had given the rest a cue. In a 
few moments the barricade was being dismantled. 
In five minutes peace reigned. And Raymond, en- 
tirely subdued now, came to Paul. 

^‘Need we give up our arms?” he asked. 

‘^You know what the Germans order,” said 
Paul. ‘ ^ Perhaps they have no right to do so, but 
they have the strength to enforce their orders, and 
that is what counts, after all. Believe me, I would 
like to fight. But when there is no chance of win- 
ning, the wise soldier saves himself for a day when 
things will be more even. Look, there are the Ger- 
mans coming now ! ’ ’ 


CHAPTER XIV 


SUBMISSION 

It was true. A dozen Uhlans rode into the vil- 
lage, trotting along on their big, rawboned horses, 
as coolly as if they had been on parade in Berlin. 
Only these men did not look like parade soldiers. 
Their uniforms were of the neutral gray that 
faded into the background at short distances, and 
they were dirty and travel worn, besides. Their 
horses, however, were still in fine condition, for it 
was a part of their training to see to it, wherever 
they were, that their mounts were properly cared 
for. 

The soldiers ignored entirely the few people who 
still remained outside their houses. Most of the 
villagers, impressed by what Paul had said, or, 
like Raymond, the blustering butcher, more afraid 
of their wives than of the foreign enemy, had gone 
within, and the place was very quiet. But those 
who had not gone in greeted the Germans with 

167 


168 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


sullen looks, which did not provoke so much as a 
smile. 

One of the Uhlans, evidently detailed in advance 
for the duty, produced proclamations and orders, 
like the ones the refugees had described. These 
he affixed to posts and buildings in conspicuous 
places. Then he joined his fellows, and the little 
troop rode on, with a clattering of hoofs to the 
mairie, the official centre of Hannay. There stood 
the maire, a small, spectacled, frightened man, 
with the parish priest to support him, waiting for 
them. Paul and Arthur drew near to listen. 

‘‘Which is the burgomeister?^^ asked a young 
lieutenant with closely cropped head and a tiny 
blonde moustache, which he had tried in vain to 
cultivate so that it would resemble the moustaclie 
that the German Kaiser ^s pictures have made fa- 
mous. Paul noticed that this young officer spoke 
excellent French, with hardly a trace of an ac- 
cent. It impressed him as showing how well the 
Germans had prepared for this war that appar- 
ently only they had known was bound to come. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


169 


is I,’’ said tlie little man very promptly. 

‘^Say ‘Sir!’ when you speak to a German offi- 
cer!” thundered the lieutenant. “And salute! 
Tell all your people to do so, also.” 

“Yes, sir, ’ ’ said the maire. ‘ ‘ But how are we to 
know it is an officer we see? We poor people do 
not understand all about your uniforms.” 

“If you are in doubt, salute every German sol- 
dier, ’ ’ said the officer contemptuously. ‘ ‘ They are 
worthy of your salutes in any case, and it will be 
better for your people to salute a thousand soldiers 
without the necessity of doing so than to fail to 
salute one officer who is entitled to the honor. ’ ’ 

“Yes, sir,” said the maire, meekly. 

“Hannay is occupied by the German army,” 
said the lieutenant, then, smiling a little at the 
maire ’s timidity. Was he wondering if a German 
burgomeister would submit as tamely were it a 
German village that had witnessed the arrival of 
invading troops? Probably not! Few German 
officers in those days thought it possible that an 
enemy’s foot would ever tread the soil of the fath- 


170 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


exland. No Buch fear had yet assailed them. 

You and your people,’^ the lieutenant went on, 
“must observe exactly the rules that are posted 
in the proclamations, especially with regard to 
arms. We shall not remain here, but other troops 
will arrive before nightfall. When they come all 
arms must be piled here, waiting for them. Five 
hundred loaves of bread, a hundred hams, twenty- 
five barrels of flour, five steers and ten barrels of 
wine are requisitioned, and must be turned over to 
the commissary department upon its order.’’ 

The maire threw up his hands in horror. 

“But, sir, we are poor people!” he cried. “We 
shall starve if all those things are required of us! 
We shall not have enough for our own needs.” 

“That is your concern,” said the German officer 
indifferently. “The German army must be sup- 
plied; it is delayed in Belgium because of the un- 
warranted resistance of the Belgian government 
to its peaceable passage.” 

“But — ” 

“Silence! No argument! You will provide the 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


171 


supplies that are required. In addition all gaso- 
line in the place is to be collected and turned over 
to the proper authorities. Payment will be made 
for all private property that may be taken.” 

He barked out a sharp order then, and the 
Uhlans rode on. Paul turned to Arthur, whose 
eyes were blazing. 

‘‘Did you hear that?” he cried. “He talks as 
if we were to be blamed for defending ourselves I 
Is that the way the Germans mean to talk?” 

“I suppose so,” said Paul. “I have heard be- 
fore that they would do that. They say, you see, 
that all they wanted was permission to send their 
troops across Belgium to reach France. Perhaps 
they really believed that we should not resist. If 
we had not, they would not have damaged the 
country, and perhaps if they had won in the war, 
they would have paid for whatever injury was 
done. But how absurd! If we had allowed that, 
without making any further attempt to stop them, 
we should really have been just as badly off. ’ ’ 

“I don’t understand that, Paul. I would rather 


172 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


see the whole country ruined than have it act so, 
but if we had made no resistance they could not 
have done things like this, could they?^^ 

‘‘No, perhaps not. But think a minute, Arthur. 
The French, then, would have come over the bor- 
der on their side. The French and German armies 
would have met in Belgium, and neither would 
have considered our poor country. They would 
have fought in our fields, and seized our forts. 
Each would have bombarded our cities, and neither 
would have been our friend. Now, as it is, we are 
suffering for France, and France and her ally, 
England, must take our part. Perhaps they will 
not be strong enough to save us at once, but they 
will be obliged to stand by us, for the sake of their 
own honor. ’ ’ 

“Yes, that is true. We shall have friends, at 
least. Oh, Paul, I suppose it was right not to at- 
tack those Germans, but when that officer spoke so, 
I could have tried to kill him with my bare 
hands ! ’ ’ 

“He is a bully, Arthur. I suppose there are 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


173 


officers like that in every army. But all the Ger- 
mans are not like him. You must remember that 
there are some, at least, like Colonel Schmidt who 
gave us our freedom after we had been caught. 
He was kind to us, and he would have been cour- 
teous here, had he been in the place of this lieu- 
tenant. ^ * 

Now, when the Uhlans had gone, the people be- 
gan to come out of their houses again. News of 
the demand that had been made upon Hannay 
spread rapidly, and after a little while there was a 
great deal of bustle and confusion as efforts were 
made to obtain what was required. The maire 
came to Paul and asked him what the Germans 
would do if the things were not provided. 

don^t know,^’ said Paul. ‘‘And I think it 
would be better not to find out, if you can possibly 
get them. Have them ready, and then when the 
new force comes, see if the commander is not more 
reasonable than the officer who was here. But it 
is better to take no chances. And he said that they 
would pay.’’ 


174 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


“Yes, that is so,’^ said the distracted little man. 
“Eh? Well, I suppose we had better do as you 
gay. Our lives and our homes are worth more than 
the food to us.^' 

But there were sullen, angry looks among the 
villagers as they went about their preparations. 
There seemed to be a revulsion of feeling in favor 
of the plan of resistance of Raymond, the butcher, 
and there were scowls for Paul, who had spoiled 
that plan. 

“I think there is nothing more that we can do 
here,^^ said Paul to Arthur. “Let’s go on. It’s 
just as important as ever for us to get somewhere 
where the information we have can be of use. 
Everything I see makes me more and more certain 
that the principal German attack will be delivered 
in this direction. And I am not sure that that is 
generally known yet. I heard officers in Liege, 
when we were waiting to see General Leman, say 
that the French were planning a great movement 
from Belfort, that they thought the Germans were 
likely to make a powerful attack from Alsace and 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


175 


Lorraine. If so, their information is wrong.’' 

‘‘But they must know by this time that the Ger- 
mans are coming through Belgium instead, in 
great force, I should think. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Perhaps. Perhaps not. They may think it is 
a feint. It might be, too. You see, they are throw- 
ing out their cavalry. We saw a dozen Uhlans, 
but there must be two or three thousand dozen of 
them. They are like a great human screen, thrown 
in front of the army. A screen with eyes. They 
hide what is going on behind them from the 
enemy, but they themselves can see plainly.” 

“But even if it is true, I should think it might 
work both ways, Paul. If the French advance 
from Belfort, and the main body of the Germans 
is in this quarter, won’t the French in Alsace win 
very easily?” 

‘ ‘ Perhaps, just at the beginning. But this is the 
great danger. If the Germans could advance on 
this line without meeting any great resistance, 
they would be able to swing around and get in the 
rear of a French army that had crossed the border 


176 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


into Alsace, but the French army could not come 
into a position to threaten the rear or the commu- 
nications of the Germans. There might be a great 
disaster. And just because it was believed that 
Germany would find the road through Belgium the 
quickest and the easiest for an invasion of Prance, 
some French and Belgian officers believed that if 
war came, Germany would only make a threat 
through Belgium, and would start her real attack 
on some other line. ^ ^ 

‘‘Well, we ought to give the information, 
whether it will be of any great use or not. It isn T 
for us to think about that. ’ ’ 

“You’re right there, Arthur! Let’s slip away 
quietly. We have done these people here a great 
service, but they don’t quite understand, and I 
think that instead of being grateful they’re almost 
ready to be suspicious. Perhaps they think we 
were really trying to help the Germans.” 

So they slipped out of the village. If any of the 
villagers of Hannay noticed, they said nothing. 
They had enough to keep them busy and to occupy 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 177 

their minds,, as well. They were learning that this 
war, of which they knew so little, was affecting 
them almost as much as if they were actually 
fighting. 

Outside of Hannay, as they moved along toward 
the north the ground rose gradually, and the road 
brought them, in less than a mile, to the top of a 
hill that gave them an excellent view of the sur- 
rounding countryside. From Liege there still 
came the thunder of the big guns, but from 
other directions they gathered evidence that the 
fortress was no longer guarding the country. It 
was still holding out, and was undoubtedly keep- 
ing a great many Germans busy. But more Ger- 
mans had swept around it, and the evidences of 
their activities were plain. 

On all sides smoke was rising, marking burned 
farmhouses, even whole villages that for one rea- 
son or another had been given to the flames. They 
could see now the smoking ruins of the village 
whence the refugees who had really caused them 
to stop in Hannay had come, a scene of desolation 


178 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


that looked all the worse for the bright sunlight 
in which it was bathed. That same sunlight, too, 
was reflected ever and again on tiny points of steel. 

Uhlans — the sun shines on their lance 
heads, explained Paul. He looked gloomily at 
the scene. ‘*Ah, they will have to pay! Perhaps 
an enemy will cross the Rhine and carry fire and 
sword into their lands, too. I hope so — for the 
sake of the poor, homeless ones.’’ 

‘‘But you said it was wrong for them to defend 
themselves — that the Germans had the right to 
do like that!” said Arthur, wonderingly. 

“I said it was wrong for them to give the Ger- 
mans an excuse to destroy their homes and kill 
their men, ’ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘Wrong only because it is 
useless. ’ ’ 

The descending road turned just below the crest 
of the hill on which they stood. And suddenly a 
bugle sounded, startlingly near. The two scouts 
had been so occupied in watching the country for 
miles about that they had given no heed to what 
might be going on close by. And so now while 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


179 


they stood in amazement and dismay, German sol- 
diers began to appear over the hilltop, and in a 
moment they were surrounded by hundreds of the 
men whose uniforms were so familiar. It was a 
battalion of German infantry, and in a minute 
more they had been seized, and were being es- 
corted to the rear, where in a few moments a burly 
major, plainly a soldier of the old school, and the 
commander of the battalion, questioned them. 

They told their story plainly and truthfully, 
though they omitted, of course, all the incidents of 
the adventurous period between their discovery 
of the spy Bidder and their first capture. 

“We are only doing what Colonel Schmidt told 
us to do, sir,’’ said Paul. “We explained to him 
that we would try to reach Brussels, and after we 
got to Huy, we were compelled to come this way. ’ ’ 

The major nodded. 

“Pfadfinder, hein?” he said. This, as both Paul 
and Arthur knew, was what the Boy Scouts were 
called in Germany, just as in France and Belgium 
they were called Eclaireurs Francais or Eclaireurs 


180 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


Beiges, as the case might be. ‘^You can go no fur- 
ther this way. We shall take you to Hannay, and 
there you will have to stay for a time. No civilians 
are allowed at this time to leave their own villages. 
The whole country beyond here is a battleground, 
for we shall soon be in touch with the enemy on 
the way to Brussels. Still, you shall be safe 
enough. I have a boy of my own, who is a Pf ad- 
finder with a troop in Eisenach.’’ 


CHAPTER XV 


THE butcher's WIFE 

Major Kellner was walking. 

^ ‘ I am saddle weary, ^ ’ lie explained. ‘ ‘ So I am 
walking for a time for a rest and a change, while 
they lead my horse. Walk with me, yon 3^oung 
ones. ’ ’ 

They found that Major Kellner, gruff as he was, 
was really an officer of the same kindly type as 
Colonel Schmidt, whom it seemed he knew very 
well. 

‘‘If Colonel Schmidt was satisfied to let you go, 
it is well,’’ he said. “Now tell me what you have 
seen.” 

There was not much, of course, that they could 
tell him. He was not trying, it seemed, to extract 
military information from them, but wanted to 
know how the Belgian people felt about the war. 

‘‘We have nothing against your people,” he 

said. “It is the stupid government that has 
181 


182 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


caused all this trouble. Had King Albert sub- 
mitted to the inevitable, bis country would not 
have suffered. We do not wish to be harsh with 
the people.*’ 

‘‘Then why are you burning their farmhouses 
and their villages everywhere?” asked Arthur, 
boldly. ‘ ‘ Standing on the hilltop, we could see the 
smoke on all sides. * ’ 

Major Kellner laughed. 

“It is kind sometimes to be cruel,” he said. 
“We have a great work to do, and whoever stands 
in our way must suffer. We want the Belgians to 
understand that if they do not oppose us, except 
with their armies, they will be spared. But we 
must make an example of those who fire at us 
treacherously, or who keep guns and other wea- 
pons after we have ordered them to be given up. 
If we are severe with those who have refused to 
heed the warning that we have given, it is so that 
the others will pay more attention. It is better to 
bum a few villages than to destroy your beautiful 
city of Brussels, is it not?” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 183 

“Bnt why do either!’* parried Arthur then. 

“Because the lives of our soldiers must be 
guarded against the skulking murderers who hide 
behind a window and shoot when there is no 
chance for our men to reply. Our men take their 
lives in their hands when they go to war, and if 
they die on the field of battle, they die willingly 
because they know that it is for the Fatherland. 
So we must preserve them for that glorious 
death.” 

Arthur was silent. He was not convinced, but 
he felt that it would do no good to argue, and Paul, 
moreover, had managed to look at him, so that he 
understood that his chum and leader wanted him 
to be quiet. 

When they came near to Hannay Major Kellner 
mounted his horse again, since he had to maintain 
his dignity when he was entering a captured place, 
however small it might be. He spurred his horse 
on and took his place at the head of the battalion. 

“Now we’re in a nice fix, aren’t we?” said 
Arthur, disgustedly. “We’re further from our 


184 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FKONT 


own army than ever! Likely to stay, too!^’ 
hope that we shall be able to get away from 
here soon, Arthur. I don’t believe they’ll hold us 
very long. And we’re really in luck, I suppose. 
If there are German troops all around, others 
would have held us up, if we hadn’t come on this 
detachment, and we’ve had proof for ourselves 
that all the officers wouldn’t treat us as well as 
Major Kellner. Suppose it was that young lieu- 
tenant of Uhlans who had caught us?” 

Arthur made a grimace. 

“Ugh!” he said. “Yes, that’s true! Or a de- 
tachment that had that man Bidder along! 
You’re right, Paul. We might be a great deal 
worse off than we are! But I’ll tell you one thing. 
When we come back into Hannay with the Ger- 
mans, there will be a lot of people there who are 
sure that we have been in league with them from 
the beginning. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ I hope not, ’ ’ said Paul, looking troubled. ‘ ‘ But 
I’m afraid you’re right. They can’t understand, 
of course. I don ’t blame them for feeling as they 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 185 

do. But it’s rather hard, when I was only trying 
to do what would be best for them. And I believe 

1 

we did save them from having a very bad time 
there. You see, these people have a couple of guns 
along. They’re not very big, and they wouldn’t 
make very much impression on a fortified place, 
but if they were turned on a defenseless village 
like Hannay, they would destroy it in a very few 
minutes.” 

In Hannay, as the battalion marched in, past the 
remains of the barricade, at which most of the men 
looked with a tolerant smile, the street was again 
deserted. Major Kellner rode straight up to the 
mairie, and Paul and Arthur could see that he was 
holding a conference with the maire. The battal- 
ion was halted and during this conference stood 
at ease. Then quick orders came back ; never from 
the officers, but always, Paul noticed, from the 
non-commissioned officers, to whom the captains 
and lieutenants gave the commands. 

Then the battalion split up. One company broke 
ranks and immediately swarmed through the vil- 


186 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


lage, looking curiously at everything, while the 
other marched on, passing out of sight before long 
in a cloud of dust. Major Kellner remained with 
the company that stayed behind, and Paul and 
Arthur, who were at liberty, seemingly, to wander 
about the village as they pleased, saw him looking 
for quarters in disgust. After a time he settled 
upon the house of the local doctor, and there he and 
the officers were soon at home. Meanwhile the 
men scattered themselves in the different houses 
of the place, two to each house, as a rule, though 
sometimes there were more. 

‘‘Why are they staying here, I wonder said 
Arthur. 

“I don^t know,^’ said Paul, with a shrug of his 
shoulders. “But I suppose there will be fighting 
all along here if the Germans advance on Brussels. 
It’s all done on orders from the staff headquarters, 
you see. If I knew what sort of a force was oper- 
ating here, perhaps I could tell you. I think Liege 
is being attacked by one army corps — that’s 
about forty-five thousand men, in three divisions. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


187 


These men may be part of a division that is oper- 
ating independently, or they may be getting their 
orders from the headquarters of a whole army.” 

'‘What do you mean by army? The whole Ger- 
man army?” 

“No. You know roughly how they will divide 
their forces, don’t you? An army has a certain 
work to do. It may be of almost any size — two 
hundred, three hundred, even five or six hundred 
thousand men. That is, from five to fifteen army 
corps. It has its own commanding general, who 
is responsible to the general staff. One plan that 
I’ve heard talked about as likely to be used by the 
Germans is to have two armies coming through 
Belgium, one through Luxembourg, one through 
Lorraine and one from the Rhine Valley. Then 
they would have one army in East Prussia and an- 
other in Silesia to fight against the Russians.” 

“I see. Paul, aren’t you hungry? I am.” 

“So am I, now that you remind me of it! Let’s 
see if we can’t buy something to eat. I think we 
can, if the Germans haven’t taken everything.” 


188 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


But now, as they went about trying to find some- 
one to sell them food, they found that Arthur ^s 
fear as to the opinion the villagers had of them was 
justified by the facts. At first they met only ex- 
cuses. 

have had to give up all I can spare for the 
Prussians,’’ they were told. 

But finally, when they went to the shop of Ray- 
mond the butcher, hoping to buy some meat and 
cook it for themselves, they got plain speech. 

‘ * Go to your Prussian friends if you want food ! ’ ’ 
said Raymond, eyeing them angrily. ^‘You will 
get none from any good Belgian in Hannay, I can 
tell you!” 

‘‘The Prussians are not our friends! They 
forced us to come back with them because they had 
forbidden everyone to travel in the direction we 
had taken,” said Paul. 

“Tell that to the gatepost!” said Raymond. 
“Be off with you! You fooled our people this 
morning, but now they know the truth.” 

And so Paul and Arthur faced the prospect of 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 189 

going hungry. They might have appealed to 
Major Kellner, who had shown himself inclined to 
be friendly toward them, apparently because his 
boy was, like them, a Boy Scout. But that neither 
of them would do. 

*‘I’d rather go without than ask the Germans 
for anything!^’ said Arthur. 

*‘So would I!’^ agreed Paul. ‘‘But I would like 
to get away from here. ^ ’ 

That, however, proved to be impossible. Sen- 
tries were posted all about the village, and new no- 
tices had been added to those the Uhlans had 
posted earlier in the day, forbidding anyone to 
leave Hannay until permission was given by the 
officer in command of the German troops. 

“I could laugh if it weren^t so unpleasant!^’ de- 
clared Paul. “These poor people, whose village 
would be in ruins now except for us, think we have 
betrayed them! And the Germans would send us 
home as prisoners, if we were lucky, if they even 
guessed that it was because of us that they were 
kept from taking Liege in their first attack!” 


190 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


‘‘The only one who gave ns so much as a 
friendly look was the wife of Raymond, the 
butcher,’’ said Arthur, thoughtfully. 

“Did you see that? So did I! I think perhaps 
he has got his courage back and has frightened 
her — but she was on our side this morning, too. 
Perhaps if we could see her alone, a little later, she 
would sell us some food. I tell you what we will 
do. We will watch to see if he does not go out, and 
then if the coast is clear, we will try her again. ’ ’ 
“Yes. Paul, I shall never let them send a beg- 
gar away who asks for food if we ever get home ! 
I know now how they must feel.” 

The two scouts were in no danger of starvation, 
of course, and they were plucky enough, as they 
had certainly proved, to be able to endure a little 
discomfort if it were necessary. But they suffered 
the more from their hunger because there was 
nothing for them to do. Until the Germans re- 
voked the order that kept them from leaving Han- 
nay, they could not make a move toward giving 
the proper authorities the information they pos- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 191 

sessed. And so they tried to be patient while they 
watched for Eaymond to go out in the dusk that 
was now beginning to fall. 

They saw him several times, when men came to 
his shop and went in to talk to him. And at last, 
when it was almost dark, he emerged, looking 
stealthily about him as he came into the street, 
perhaps for German soldiers. There were none 
near by. All save the sentries were gathered to- 
gether about a great fire that they had built, and 
were singing while the busy camp cooks prepared 
their supper for them. This was the first time 
that Paul and Arthur had heard German troops 
singing. They were to learn, before long, that that 
was their usual custom when they were off duty. 

Now, as soon as the butcher was well out of 
sight — he had gone, they noticed, in the direction 
of the barricade he had caused to be built — the 
scouts went quickly to his place and went in. 
There was one light placed by the door, but at first 
they could not see his wife. Then they heard the 
sound of someone sobbing, and called. It was the 


192 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


woman who had helped them in the morning. 

* * Oh ! ^ ’ she said, chokingly. ‘ ‘ It is you ! I hoped 
you would come — poor boys! Here is a parcel of 
bread and meat I hid for you. Oh, I am in such 
trouble!” 

‘‘Why? What is the matter?” asked Paul. 

She trembled and for a moment seemed afraid 
to say more. Then she gathered her courage. 

“ It is Raymond, ’ ^ she said. ‘ ‘ He has concealed 
some guns! He and some of the others mean to 
fire on the German officers ! * ^ 

‘ ‘ But that is madness ! ^ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘ What good 
does he think that will do ? ” 

“He says that the men, without their officers, 
will be terrified and will run away. He says it is 
an easy thing to do, since they think all our men 
are afraid of them.” 

“It ought to be stopped for their own sake, and 
for the sake of Hannay, ’ ’ said Arthur. ‘ ‘ I thought 
Paul was wrong at first, but I can see now that he 
was not. ’ ^ 

“Do you know their plans? Tell me all you 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


193 


know/’ said Paul quickly, in a tone of command. 

‘‘You will not — betray them to the Germans?” 

“I am a Belgian,” said Paul. “I shall try to 
save them and all in Hannay from the ruin that 
such a thing would mean. You may trust me.” 

“Then the guns are hidden in the cellar of Mar- 
cel’s wine shop. They plan to get into the cellar 
from the back of the house, where there is a con- 
cealed door. V ery late one of them is to raise an 
alarm — how I do not know. They expect the 
German officers to run out of the doctor’s house, 
and then they will shoot them down. It will not 
be before midnight. ’ ’ 

“Then there should be time enough to stop it,” 
said Paul, with decision. “Thank you for your 
bread and meat, madame. Perhaps we shall repay 
you by saving your home and your husband’s life. 
Come on, Arthur. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ What will you do, Paul ? ’ ’ asked Arthur, when 
they were alone. 

“I don’t know yet, Arthur. I want to see this 
wine shop. Then perhaps we can make up a plan 


194 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


together. It would be easy to tell the Germans, 
but they would bum the wine shop. And I do not 
want to tell them if there is another way. * ^ 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE WINE SHOP 

In the wine shop, when they came to it, they 
found none of the men of Hannay. The German 
soldiers, off duty for a little while, had taken pos- 
session of the place, and the sound of their singing, 
which could be heard as soon as one came within 
a hundred yards of the place, showed that they 
were happy. The two scouts looked in as they 
passed the window. They saw the invaders there, 
looking less like soldiers than they had imagined 
German troops ever could look. A few of the men 
were resting their feet, having taken off their 
heavy hobnailed boots, and were sitting in their 
woolen socks. Some were playing cards; nearly 
all were smoking. 

‘‘It^s safe enough,’’ said Paul. ‘‘If we can find 
that back entrance, I think we can get into the cel- 
lar. The worst of it is that they may have a guard 
there. ’ ’ 


195 


196 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


It was Arthur who found the entrance to the 
cellar. He led the way down the stone steps, and 
they found themselves in a whitewashed vault, 
scrupulously clean, as are practically all Belgian 
houses from garret to cellar. There was a lantern, 
too, shedding a dim but most welcome light on the 
place, with its rows of casks and hogsheads. 

‘‘That’s a piece of luck, that lantern,” said 
Paul. “Only it shows something we’ll have to 
look out for — that we may have a visitor any mo- 
ment. Look over there, Arthur. There’s a little 
space behind that row of barrels. If anyone comes 
we can hide there. ’ ’ 

But Arthur had another idea. Before Paul could 
stop him, he sprang lightly up the stairs that led 
to the room above, whence the sound of the Ger- 
man soldiers came very plainly. He fumbled for 
a moment at the door before he returned. 

“I thought I might find that,” he said. “I’ve 
shot a bolt on the door. That will hold anyone 
who tries to come down for a few moments at least, 
and it will give us time to get out the way 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


197 


we came. We may wish to escape, you see.^' 

‘ ‘ Good I ’ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘ All right ! Now let ^s try 
to find those guns.’’ 

But of guns or weapons of any sort they could 
find no trace. They looked behind all the barrels 
and casks and under every possible hiding place. 
They lifted some of the barrels, though to do so 
was a considerable task, and the result was the 
same. 

‘‘Perhaps they have chosen some other hiding 
place or else the woman did not really know, and 
only suspected,” suggested Arthur. 

But that explanation did not satisfy Paul. And 
in a moment he had an inspiration. At once he 
began trying to tip back the great hogsheads at 
one side of the vault. The third yielded easily, and 
he immediately pried off its top. 

“Aha, here we are!” he said. “Look, Arthur! 
I noticed that some of these were empty, but I 
thought anything like a gun would rattle around 
inside. But do you see what they did ? They have 
the guns here, but they’re packed in with rags and 


198 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


sacking, so they can’t move and make a noise.” 

“That was clever!” said Arthur. “I suppose 
they expected the Germans to make a search. ’ ’ 

He drew out a gun, a shotgun with a sawed off 
barrel. The shortening of the barrel served a dou- 
ble purpose. It made it possible for the gun to be 
hidden in the barrel, and it made of it, also, at 
close range, a far more dangerous and formidable 
weapon than it had been in its original form. 

“What are we to do with them! Where shall 
we hide them?” 

“Nowhere. We shall put them back,” said 
Paul. “When we have finished with them, that 
is. Here, let me show you ! ’ ’ 

He took the sawed off shotgun, opened the 
breech, and in a moment had hopelessly shattered 
the firing mechanism. 

“There, do you see? They’ll find their guns — 
but they’ll have trouble in firing them! That’s 
better than taking them away, because it’s so 
much safer.” 


‘ Oh, I should say so ! ” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


199 


They were busy for five minutes getting out the 
guns, of which there were only a dozen all told, 
breaking them and then putting them back. They 
left the place as they found it, and the guns them- 
selves, moreover, would not immediately give up 
the secret of how they had been treated. 

wonder if we can’t find the ammunition!” 
said Paul, when they had finished their work with 
the guns. “Then we could really finish the job.” 

But the search for that proved vain. Though 
they looked everywhere they came upon no hidden 
store of bullets or powder. Nor had Paul really 
hoped that they would. 

“They’d carry that with them, naturally,” he 
said. “Well, it doesn’t make much difference. 
We — ” 

On the word there was a noise outside. They 
stopped, listening. Down the steps by which they 
had entered came footsteps, and they first saw 
heavy boots and then a pair of stout legs come into 
the range of the lantern. For a moment they were 
rooted to the spot, and in that moment the rest of 


200 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the descending figure came into view, and they saw 
that it was Eaymond. In the same moment he saw 
them, and cried out sharply, fear and anger min- 
gled in his voice. That ended the spell that had 
held them still. Arthur started a rush toward the 
newcomer, but Paul caught his arm. 

‘ ‘ No ! Up stairs ! ^ ’ he cried. 

As he spoke, he seized the lantern from the hook 
where it hung, and swung it around, extinguish- 
ing the feeble flame at once. And then, as Eay- 
mond with a roar of rage started toward them, he 
flung the lantern straight at him. A cry of pain 
told him that his aim had been true, even in the 
darkness, and then he leaped up the stairs after 
Arthur, who was already fumbling at the bolt. In 
a moment they were through the door and had 
burst into the midst of the astonished soldiers in 
the taproom above. 

For just a moment their sudden appearance 
caused excitement and confusion among the sol- 
diers, who must have imagined that this was a sur- 
prise attack. But then some of the men, who had 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


201 


seen them talking wivi Major Kellner earlier in 
the day, recognized them and a shout of laughter 
went up. 

**It is only those boysP’ cried one soldier. 
‘‘Here, you young ones, you must stay to supper, 
now that you have comel^^ 

He seized Paul and forced him into a chair, 
while another did as much for Arthur. 

“Come, landlord, your best for our guests! 
cried half a dozen of the soldiers. 

Marcel, the landlord, who evidently knew only 
too well what his cellar contained beside wine and 
beer, was staring at them with a white, panio- 
stricken gaze. But he turned to obey, none the 
less; he was in deadly fear, it was plain, of the boy- 
ish soldiers. They might be willing to jest now, 
but he knew that they were the same men who 
fought like devils, and if reports were true (which 
they were not!) cut off the hands of women and 
children. 

He brought food, and one of the soldiers handed 
Paul a glass of wine. 


202 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


^^Now, then!^^ cried the German. ‘^You shall 
drink a toast to the good Kaiser Wilhelm, who is 
now King of Belgium as well as of Prussia, and 
who will eat the first course of his Christmas din- 
ner in Paris and fiy to London in a Zeppelin for 
the second ! Skoal ! ^ ’ 

“Jal Ja wohl! A toast to the Kaiser by the 
young Belgian!’’ cried some of the others. 

Paul got up, the glass held firmly in his hand. 
His cheeks were blazing. 

^ ‘ I will give you a toast ! ” he cried. ‘ ‘ To Kaiser 
Wilhelm! May he eat his Christmas dinner in 
Saint Helena, with the ghost of Napoleon to keep 
him company! And may King Albert and King 
George and the Czar and the president of France 
enjoy a dinner that shall be served to them in the 
palace of Potsdam!” 

And then he flung down the glass, so that it was 
shattered on the stone floor, and the red wine ran 
over the white flags. 

‘‘And so say I and every other good Belgian!” 
echoed Arthur. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


203 


For a moment there was a stunned silence in the 
room. The Gertnan soldiers, aghast at such dar- 
ing, stared with open mouths and wide eyes. And 
then there was an angry murmur, spreading from 
one man to another, as the enormity of Paul ’s dar- 
ing sank in. 

‘^He has insulted the Kaiser! He has dared to 
be disrespectful toward our Emperor ! He has re- 
fused to drink to his health ! ’ ^ 

^^Do what you like!’^ cried Paul, thoroughly 
aroused now, as Arthur had seen him roused only 
once or twice before, and utterly indifferent to 
what might happen to him. am not afraid of 
you ! Come, stop us if you like ! ’ ’ 

And then while the angry muttering continued, 
and each of the German soldiers seemed to wait 
for one of the others to make the first move, Paul 
and Arthur, side by side, without looking to right 
or left, walked out of the place and into the open 
air of the single street of Hannay. For a moment, 
after they passed outside, they heard nothing, 
though they had expected to be pursued and 


204 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


brought back. And then suddenly from behind 
them there came the last sound they could have 
expected or hoped to hear — a tremendous roar of 
laughter! PauHs courage in defying them had 
won the admiration of the German soldiers at last. 
Brave men are nearly always ready to pay a 
tribute to bravery in others. 

But if they had escaped from one danger, they 
had still to face another and one that might be 
even greater, as they well Knew. For Raymond, 
the butcher, had seen them in the cellar. No doubt 
he knew by this time what had happened to his 
guns, and he would certainly know who was to 
blame for their condition. He would be more cer- 
tain than ever that they were traitors to Belgium, 
since he was too stupid to understand how well the 
scouts had served him, and it was sure that he and 
his cronies of the civic guard would make some 
attempt to secure revenge. 

Indeed, even as they came into the street, Paul 
saw a lurking figure across the way, that moved 
as they did. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


205 


“Don’t look around,” he whispered to Arthur. 
“But I think that Raymond is watching us from 
the other side of the street. We must be careful.” 

And then, suddenly, without the slightest warn- 
ing, a whistling sound that both scouts knew well 
after their experience during the shelling of 
the German battery near their old home, was 
heard overhead. It was followed in a few seconds 
by a terrific explosion. But fortunately the ex- 
plosion was at some distance. The shell, for it 
was a shell that they had heard, burst outside of 
the village and did no damage. 

But it created a tremendous effect, none the less. 
At once the German officers came running from 
the doctor’s house where they were quartered, 
and, as more shells burst nearby, bugles sounded, 
and the German soldiers came running to the cen- 
tre of the village, gathering rapidly from the 
houses where they had been enjoying their brief 
respite from war. Sentries and all were called in, 
and within three minutes the troops were off, at 
the double quick, going in the direction whence 


206 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


they had come to enter the village of Hannay. 

And now the comparative silence of the night, 
that had been broken before then only by the dull 
and intermittent thunder of the guns around 
Liege, was shattered in a thousand ways. Heavy 
firing by infantry rifles, as well as by field guns, 
came from the north. It was plain that Belgian 
or French troops must have been advancing with 
great rapidity to interfere with the German raid 
on the country between Liege and Brussels. 
Flashes of fire marked the bursting shells less than 
a mile away, and occasional spurts of flame 
showed where the German guns were replying to 
the sudden attack. In a moment Hannay was de- 
serted by the Germans. And before the villagers, 
led by Raymond, had collected their scattered 
wits, Paul had seen the chance of escape. 

‘‘Come on!” he cried, to Arthur. 

They ran as fast as they could after the Ger- 


mans 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE BATTLE 

They had not gone more than a hundred yards 
when a wild outburst of shouting behind them told 
them that their flight had been discovered. At 
least there seemed to be no reason for the people 
in Hannay to raise such a din. And the cries 
showed them, too, that they were being pursued. 
But such a pursuit did not frighten them. They 
had taken to the fields almost at once, deserting 
the road, and with such a start as they had it was 
practically impossible for them to be overtaken, 
especially by such stupid pursuers as Raymond 
and his men. 

So, before they had gone any great distance to- 
ward the sounds of firing, which had now in- 
creased to a point that showed that they were in 
the neighborhood of something very like a pitched 
battle, a general engagement, they slowed down to 
a walk and waited to see what would happen. In 


207 


208 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


the road the pursuit stormed past them, but that 
did not last long. In a few minutes they heard 
the voices of the returning villagers, who had evi- 
dently decided that to keep on was too likely to 
bring them into the field of operations. 

And so for the time at least, the two scouts were 
free and safe. 

‘‘Thank heaven that^s overP’ said Arthur. 
“Paul, I never was so frightened in my life! It 
seems to me that we were really between the devil 
and the deep blue sea back there ! ’ ’ 

“We certainly were!^^ said Paul, with a laugh. 
“The Belgians thought we sided with the Ger- 
mans, and the Germans knew we didn T I I suppose 
it was foolish to defy them like that, but I couldn’t 
do anything else.” 

“I should hope not!” said Arthur. “And I 
don’t think it was foolish at all — and neither do 
you, really, Paul. Perhaps they will find out, if 
a few more things like that happen, that it won ’t 
be so easy to conquer Belgium as they think, even 
if we are only a little bit of a country!” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


209 


“What I^m wondering is what we^d better try 
to do next/^ said Paul, thoughtfully. “That 
sounds like a real battle in front of us, Arthur. 
The firing is getting heavier all the time, and on 
both sides, I think, as if more and more troops 
were being brought up. You see, we haven T any 
idea at all of what’s going on, except just where 
we’ve happened to be. We haven’t had any news 
since the Germans caught us the first time.” 

“Can’t we get to the Belgian lines?” 

“We can try, of course. We must bear well to 
the west, which will bring us behind the skirmish 
lines. I think the place for us to try to reach now 
is Tirlemont. There must be a sort of headquar- 
ters there, I think, because it ’s on the railway, and 
any railway is important in time of war. Yes, I 
believe that’s where these troops must have come 
from. They could be brought there from all over 
Belgium, you see, and sent out to try to check the 
German advance. ’ ’ 

They could follow the line of the battle readily 
now, for the firing was heavy and well marked, 


210 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


showing that the line along which the fighting was 
going on was five or six miles long. The bursting 
shells, too, dotting the darkness with patches of 
light every few seconds, marked out the battle 
line, so that they could lay their course to get away 
from it. Both of them understood the need of do- 
ing that; it was now their business to get to some 
superior ofiicers as quickly as possible with the 
valuable information they possessed about the 
German movements, though of course each hour 
of delay made it less likely that that information 
would be of any value. And on the firing line, if 
they were lucky enough to escape being shot, they 
would find no superior officers in any case, but only 
men charged with the duty of looking after their 
small, individual tasks, and too busy to pay any 
attention to them. It was the staff headquarters 
they wanted to reach. 

And then, while they were going on as fast as 
they could, over the stubble of the fields, there was 
a sudden shifting of the lines in front of them. 
Immediately before them the firing was almost 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


211 


doubled in violence, but on one side only. Appar-^ 
ently some heavier guns had been brought up by 
the Germans, and they saw that a terrific fire was 
being directed at the higher ground whence the 
flashes of the Belgian guns had been coming. One 
by one these guns were silenced, and then the 
bursting shells began to search out the ground in 
front of the Belgian artillery. Paul cried out in 
dismay. 

“What is it! What^s the matter? asked 
Arthur. 

“I’m afraid it’s going badly for us there,” said 
Paul, gloomily. “Do you see, they’ve put our 
guns out of business! Now they are sending their 
shells right where our men must be massed. I 
don’t believe any troops can stand their ground 
long under such a fire as that.” 

“They’re still there — they’re still answering, 
Paul!” 

“Yes, but listen!” 

Even above the roar of the battle now they 
could hear sounds of cheering. And, on one side. 


212 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


much of the lighter rifle fire now died away. 

‘‘The Germans are advancing! It must be a 
charge against our men. And they canT have had 
time to intrench said Paul. “Look! DidnT I 
tell you so?^^ 

It was almost as if they had been able to see. 
They could follow the bending of the Belgian line 
as it gave way before the furious advance. The 
artillery firing on the German side — on the Ger- 
man left wing, that is, and the Belgian right — 
ceased. And then, nearly half a mile beyond 
where it had been before, the rifle fire broke out 
again. 

“There, can you tell what has happened?^’ 
asked Paul. “They’ve turned our wing — they 
must have rushed a lot of troops this way. We’re 
holding them well enough on the other side and 
in the centre, but our men will have to retire very 
soon. It’s awfully bad for us, because now the 
Germans are between us and Tirlemont, and I 
don’t see how we can get around them, because 
they will keep spreading out, no matter how 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


213 


far we go,’^ keen disappointment in his voice. 

don’t see how you can tell that from here, 
Paul!” 

Watch the flashes from the guns nearest us — 
those are the Germans, now. The rifles, I mean 
— do you see, there? They’re firing pretty regu- 
larly, and the flashes are very close together. 
They haven’t spread out much. When they’re 
firing, it looks as if a whole lot of lightning bugs 
were flashing all at once, and it makes a line along 
the ground. That’s a curved line, now. A few 
minutes ago it was straight.” 

And now the German batteries opened up again 
on their left flank, and they were firing from a po- 
sition that had been moved considerably westward 
since they had ceased firing after the infantry had 
begun pushing back the Belgian line. That was 
the most significant thing. These batteries had 
now evidently taken up a position that, at the be- 
ginning of the fight, had been held either by the 
most advanced of the German skirmishers or by 
the Belgians themselves. The German policy of 


214 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


concentrating the attack at one spot, which has 
been the policy of great generals throughout all 
history, had worked well for them again. 

But it was not the result of this fight, which 
could hardly be of really great importance what- 
ever happened, that bothered Paul. It was the 
fact thaf by this sudden sweep of the German left 
he and Paul were again in the enemy’s country, 
and almost hopelessly cut off from reaching the 
Belgian lines. For a moment he was almost ready 
to give up in despair. But that was not his style 
at all, and he soon recovered his spirits. 

‘‘There’s no use in sitting here and wishing that 
things were different,” he said, at last. “Come 
on! Let’s get back to the road! If we can’t go 
behind our own lines, let’s go behind the Ger- 
mans, and see how far we can get. They may be 
too busy to pay much attention to us, anyhow. Oh, 
I wish we had some way of getting around except 
by walking! We’re losing all this time. That’s 
what is going to ruin everything for us, just when 
it seemed that we had a chance to do something. 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


215 


They got back to the road from which they had 
turned to avoid the enraged peasants of Hannay, 
and went along mournfully. Once -they heard a 
loud crackling, and dodged immediately into the 
shelter of the hedge along the road. A German 
soldier, mounted on a powerful motorcycle, sped 
by; but he went so fast that they might have 
stayed in the road without attracting his atten- 
tion. He came from behind them, from the direc- 
tion of Hannay, and Paul groaned as they went out 
into the road again. 

‘‘They must be in force in that direction, too,’^ 
he said. “That shows that it probably wouldnT 
have done us much good to go back around Han- 
nay to try to strike another road. We would only 
have run into a lot more Germans, I suppose, if we 
had.’’ 

“There seem to be Germans everywhere,” said 
Arthur. ‘ ‘ How can there be so many of them ? ’ ’ 

“That is the way they go to war. It is their 
plan always to have more men than the enemy. 
It is a good way, too. A thousand brave men can- 


216 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


not beat five thousand, no matter how brave they 
are. The weight of numbers has won many a bat- 
tle. 

‘ ^ Listen, ’ ’ said Arthur. ‘ ‘ Do you hear that ? It 
sounds as if another motorcycle might be coming 
from behind us. ’ ’ 

They were climbing a stiff little grade, and were 
near the top. Paul stopped, and listened. 

‘‘No,’^ he said. “That^s not a motorcycle, but 
an automobile. I wonder — He stopped and 
thought for a moment. ‘Ht’s still half a mile or 
so away. It ’s worth trying ! It would be a chance ! 
And it can do no harm. Arthur, do you remember 
how we stopped their motorcycle when those two 
officers were chasing us after we had escaped froln 
the house where they had hidden the guns and the 
shells? 

^‘Yes!’^ Arthur saw the idea at once. ‘^We 
haven’t any glass — but if we could find some 
sharp pointed stones?” 

* ^ Quick ! Let ’s look ! ’ ’ 

They were lucky. They found something better 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


217 


than stones — for in the field right beside the road 
they discovered a veritable treasure, a pile of 
horseshoes, rusty and worn, that had been piled 
up there evidently by some farmer, against the 
time when he should decide to carry them all to 
the blacksmith to be used again. In some nails 
still projected; all of them, at any rate, had some 
sharp points. They worked frantically, while the 
song of the motor of the approaching car seemed 
to din ‘ ‘ Hurry! Hurry ! ^ ’ into their ears. Aud then, 
just as the gears of the car were shifted at the 
bottom of the hill, and it began its laborious as- 
cent, they were finished. 

^‘Now!’^ cried Paul, springing back into the 
shadow of the hedge. ‘^Now weTl see whether 
our luck has changed ! It has been against us ever 
since we got to Huy. It is time, I think, that we 
had a little good fortune! Perhaps it will do us 
no good, even if those nails and horseshoes do 
puncture the tires. But we shall see!’^ 

On came the car. The hill was one of those, 
long, steady ascents that is particularly trying to 


218 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


a fast motor car, high geared and meant to make 
great speed on the level, and it came up slowly. 
But just before the real crest of the hill was 
reached there was a lessening of the grade, and the 
driver shot into his high speed to get a good start. 
That was what Paul had hoped for; that, and 
something else that he had not dared to voice as 
a hope, so faint was the chance that it would come 
true. 

Now, however, as he saw the car, he could 
scarcely repress a cry of exultation. 

There’s only one man!” he said to Arthur. 

Now if those nails will only do their parti” 

The car shot forward, and in a moment there 
was a roar as a tire blew out, and then another, 
and another. Three tires went, and a hissing of 
freed air showed that the other was punctured! 


CHAPTER XVin 


VICTORY ! 

There came a savage exclamation of rage from 
the solitary driver of the car, as it swerved vio- 
lently and dangerously before he could stop it. 
Then, still muttering, he was out of the car and 
at the task of jacking it up. Evidently he was in 
a fearful hurry and it was easy to guess that his 
errand was one of the most pressing importance, 
for, though he kicked the horseshoes away, and so 
evidently understood what had caused his mishap, 
and knew that it could not have been accidental, 
he wasted no time in looking for whoever had 
caused it. 

Instead he went to work with a will, ripping off 
the deflated tires and attaching others. He worked 
fast and furiously, and with the skill of one accus- 
tomed to the task. 

^‘What are we to do now? Rush him?^^ whis- 
pered Arthur. ‘'We can do it while he is bending 

219 


220 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


over like that, and the two of ns ought to be able 
to hold him down, too/’ 

‘‘We can’t take any chances,” Paul whispered 
back grimly. He showed Arthur a horseshoe that 
he had retained. ‘‘He’s a German officer and an 
enemy, and we have a right to do anything we can 
to damage the enemy. I’m going to hit him with 
this. If I do it right, he won ’t be able to move for 
some time.” 

Arthur shuddered a little. The idea of actually 
attacking a man from behind in such a way was 
unpleasant. But he realized that Paul, who had 
a reputation for gentleness, could like the idea as 
little as he did himself, and also that it was vitally 
necessary to secure possession of the car, though 
even yet Paul’s whole plan had not come to him. 

‘ ‘ All right ! ” he said. ‘ ‘ Come on, then ! ’ ’ 

“No; wait until he has finished! We might as 
well let him do the work, and have the car ready. ’ ’ 
“But he will do the tires on this side first! He 
will be on the other side of the car afterward. ’ ’ 
“No, he won’t. He’s got to come back to this 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


221 


side when all the tires are on because the jack is on 
this side. Don ^t you see ? ^ ^ 

' ‘ Oh, yes. I didn ^t think. ’ * 

They waited breathlessly while the German 
worked. There was something oddly familiar 
about him, but his long, flowing overcoat pre- 
vented them from seeing him very well. He wore 
a uniform cap, fortunately, instead of a helmet, 
which would have given him a much better chance 
since it would have been very difficult for Paul to 
do what he planned with a helmet in the way. 

Bad as the accident had been, the German 
worked so fast that in a very few minutes he had 
all the tires on, and was pumping them up as fast 
as possible. Then, when that was done, he came 
back, as Paul had seen that he must, and stooped 
over to remove the jack that had lifted the wheels 
from the ground. And that was the moment in 
which Paul struck. 

‘‘Stay behind!’’ he whispered, to Arthur. “I 
may need your help if anything goes wrong.” 
Then with one leap he reached the German. He 


222 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


landed quietly, and, though the German heard 
him and half turned, it was all over in a second. 
Paul brought down his horseshoe on the officer's 
skull, and he crumpled without a cry and fell in a 
silent heap in the roadside. 

‘‘ Quick! cried Paul. ^^Look under the seat! 
There ought to be drinking water there. 

Arthur found a vacuum bottle, and a big gallon 
bottle of mineral water. This Paul broke, and, 
dipping a handkerchief in it, made a wet bandage 
for the German’s head. Then he dropped the 
vacuum bottle where the officer must find it when 
he recovered consciousness. And now he did 
something that surprised Arthur. He stripped off 
the officer’s coat, took his uniform jacket and his 
cap. These he himself donned, and, though they 
were far too big for him, he cried out with satis- 
faction at the fit of the cap. 

^‘Now do you see!” he cried. bet we could 
go through the German lines like this!. Hello!” 

** What’s wrong?” 

^‘Nothing, but this is that chap Poertner — one 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FKONT 223 

of the men we got away from! He was taken into 
Liege as a prisoner. Don't you remember? He 
must have got away or else the Germans must 
have taken the fort where they were holding himl 
I'm afraid it's that!" 

But there was no more time to be wasted. Paul 
leaped to the steering wheel of the car. 

‘‘In with you, Arthur!" he cried. “Get down, 
so that you won't be seen. Down low, on the 
floor!" 

“Why?" asked Arthur, though he had obeyed 
before he asked the question. 

“You haven't any uniform. You'd be spotted 
at once. If they see me in this rig, they may 
mistake me for a German officer, you see. That's 
why I took it. I was sorry to have to do it, but 
it's war, and all's fair! Now we're off!" 

On the word he turned the car around, and they 
were really off in another moment, racing down 
the hill that the car had just climbed so labori- 
ously, to have its journey so ingloriously halted. 

“It's a wonderful little car. They must use a 


224 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


lot of these for dispatch bearers/^ said Paul. 
‘"Arthur, isn^t it lucky that Marcel showed us all 
about how to run different sorts of cars? I hope 
he ’s all right. I bet he enlisted too, if Uncle Henri 
joined the army when he went to Brussels.’^ 

“It runs so smoothly and it^s ever so much 
faster than the fastest horse, of course,’’ said 
Arthur. “I suppose all the armies must be using 
automobiles for this sort of work. Where are you 
going, Paul?” 

“I’m going to make a great big circuit, if we’re 
not stopped before we really get started,” said 
Paul. ‘ ‘ On foot we never could have got ahead of 
the Germans in that sweeping flank movement of 
theirs. But now, when we can make sixty miles 
an hour, I should think we ought to be able to do 
it. I think the worst time will be right along here 
in the first ten miles or so. All I’m hoping is that 
we don’t run into the people who know where 
Poertner was going in this car. I think we can 
get by anyone else. But there’s no telling where 
he did start from. Perhaps from Huy.” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 225 

' ‘ Huy ? But we were there this morning — and 
our troops were there, too!’^ exclaimed Arthur, 
plainly puzzled. 

''That doesn’t mean that they’re there now. 
Huy couldn’t have held out for more than a few 
hours against a real attack. And we had very few 
troops there. Our concentration seems to be fur- 
ther north. ’ ’ 

They swept through Hannay at a terrific pace, 
but not so fast as to prevent them from seeing 
that the wine shop was still open and that it was 
full of Raymond’s men. Paul sounded a blast on 
the siren of his car, the peculiar siren that indi- 
cated its military character, and laughed at the 
rush of people to the door of the shop. Then they 
were out in the open road again. 

And now Paul’s knowledge of the geography of 
the country stood him in good stead. Twinkling 
camp fires showed that they were running toward 
a country that was literally swarming with Ger- 
mans. Now more than ever, it was plain that from 
all around Liege a great advance movement was 


226 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


being pushed. Despite the battle that was still 
raging behind them, these troops seemed to be in 
camp, a plain proof that the Germans must still 
have troops enough and to spare behind them, 
though here were fresh divisions that would not be 
engaged at all. 

In the southwest the lights of Huy could be 
seen, but they gave no clue as to which army held 
the town. Only the fires that dotted the ground, 
clustered about Huy in a great semicircle, seemed 
to indicate that perhaps the Germans had not yet 
entered the town. They were west of it, however, 
though only a few, toward Namur, and Paul mut- 
tered angrily to himself as he saw that well west 
of Huy the fires stretched in a solid line between 
that place and the fortress of Namur. 

‘‘We won’t be able to reach Namur, I’m 
afraid,” he said. “We might get through, but I 
believe that our best chance is to swing right 
around Huy, staying well inside the line of the 
fires, and slip past it, just to the west. There is a 
bridge there, too. I don’t believe we could cross 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


227 


the Meuse anywhere else between Huy and 
Namur.’’ 

Twice they passed roadside patrols of Germans, 
but Paul’s appearance was deceptive, and the sol- 
diers simply sprang to attention as the flying car 
swept by, standing with their hands raised in sa- 
lute. Paul knew that at any moment he might run 
into a patrol less easily satisfied, but that was a 
chance that had to be taken. 

Now he was picking his way carefully, having 
reduced his speed a little. Twice he boldly left the 
road and drove the car across the soft ground of 
fields, for he had to follow a semicircle, and the 
road, had he stuck to it, would have brought him 
right up to one of the camps each time. But at 
last he was heading north and west again, and he 
heaved a sigh of great relief. 

He had to sacrifice speed now for a time to cer- 
tainty. To have taken a false turn would have 
spelled disaster, and, though he knew the map of 
the country well enough, he had never traveled 
these roads himself. But soon all danger seemed 


228 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


to be over. They were coming nearer to the sounds 
of the battle again. These had died away for a 
time, and the fight had seemed to be over. But 
whichever side had been losing had brought up re- 
enforcements, and as the first faint streaks of light 
in the east that foretold the dawn began to spread 
in the sky the din was louder than ever. 

Where are you trying to goT^ asked Arthur. 

‘ ^ To Eghezee, ^ ’ said Paul. ‘ ‘ That is a fair sized 
town and we ought to find a telephone exchange 
still working there, with wires into Brussels that 
haven T been cut. There is its smoke — do you see 
it right ahead ? ’ ’ 

Arthur raised his head to look. And he saw 
something else. To the right of the town, which 
was still two miles away, there was a moving 
mass of grey. 

There come the Germans, too!’’ he groaned. 
“And they’re nearer than we are!” 

Paul’s answer was to urge the car to still 
greater speed. Arthur was right. Heavy masses 
of Germans — Paul guessed there was a full di- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


229 


vision of twenty thousand men — were advancing 
toward the town. They were still some distance 
away, but they were moving fairly fast. 

“It’s the railway they’re after, that line runs 
between Namur and Tir lemon t,” said Paul. 
“Well, we’ve got to risk it now. Perhaps they 
will catch us, but if we have any luck we ’ll get our 
messages through.’’ 

They came into a town that was almost wholly 
deserted, as it seemed. The Germans had given 
warning of their coming, and the people had fled. 
But in the building that was used by the telephone 
system there were still signs of life. The door 
was open, and when, having left the car. outside, 
they burst into the room that contained the big 
switchboard, they found a girl sitting there 
calmly, waiting for the calls that did not come. 

“Can you get Tirlemont?” cried Paul. “We 
must talk to the office of the headquarters staff 
there. Say that we have come from Liege and 
have a message from Major du Chaillu.” 

The girl stared at them incredulously for a mo- 


230 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


ment. She had had the pluck to stick to her post 
when she knew the Germans were coming, and 
now she went to work without argument. 

‘‘If the wires are not cut!’’ she said. She ma- 
nipulated the plugs and then, after a brief delay, 
pointed to an instrument. 

“A message from Major du Chaillu!” said a 
voice in Paul’s ear. “Impossible — he is here!” 

‘ ‘ Thank Heaven I ’ ’ cried Paul. ‘ ‘ Call him to the 
telephone I ’ ’ 

In another moment he was telling what they had 
learned. He gave the information concerning the 
great extent of the German strength first, and was 
rewarded by a cry of astonishment. And then he 
told of their situation; of how, having captured 
the car and fled through the whole German army, 
they were now almost certain to be captured. 

“With that coat — and the automobile!” cried 
du Chaillu. “My boy, I am afraid they would 
shoot you! How far away are they?” 

“Very near.” 


“Eh? Oh, I have it! Listen!” 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


231 


PanPs face lighted up as he heard the plan. 

“Yes — yes!” he cried. “I think we can I I 
think there will be time for that ! ’ ^ 

There was a click. The wire had been cut some- 
where between him and Tirlemont! But he did 
not care; he had done all that was needful. And 
now, shouting to Arthur to follow, he dashed from 
the building. 

“DonT delay a second!” he cried. “Come! 
Major du Chaillu says a train, with an engine and 
one, car, was held here to bring money from the 
banks so that the Germans would not get it! He 
is having a telegram sent to bid it wait! The sta- 
tion is a quarter of a mile away!” 

Madly they ran through the deserted streets. 
Even as they ran past a wide street that 
entered the one in which they were, they saw the 
head of a German column coming down toward 
them. Never had they run so fast before, but even 
so, it seemed that they would never reach the sta- 
tion! But at last they were there; they dashed 
in — to see the train going out! 


232 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


‘‘The telegram must have come too lateP^ said 
Paul. “Well, perhaps they will not know what we 
have done. It may not be so bad — ” 

“Look!^’ cried Arthur. The train had slowed 
down. Now it had stopped, just by a signal tower. 
From the engine a man dropped, looked back, and 
then began beckoning them on. They ran wildly 
toward him, and in a moment they were being 
pulled on board the train. 

“The operator in the signal tower heard the 
message coming in just as we were starting,’’ said 
the conductor. ‘ ‘ He set the signal against us and 
told us of the message! What good luck for you! 
Now, if the Germans haven’t cut the line, you are 
safe!” 

And safe they were. The light train carried 
them to Tirlemont, and there they met not only 
Major du Chaillu, but their uncle, now Colonel de 
Frenard. 

“We have informed the French staff of your 
news. It has changed the whole plan of cam- 
paign,” said du Chaillu. “Namur will be aban- 


THE BELGIANS TO THE FRONT 


233 


doned; the real defence will be made on the border. 
Thanks to yon the French have escaped the trap 
that was being baited for them. And I have spe- 
cial orders concerning yon. ’ ’ 

‘‘What are they?” asked Panl. 

“Yon are to be sent to Bmssels immediately. 
And there yon are to be received by King Albert 
who has heard of your part in the defence of 
Liege, for which all the world has praised Bel- 
ginm and her brave sons I ” 

THE END 



Matry £^* Erela^nd Books < 



The Tower Angel 


The Young Violinist 


TKe Tower Angel 


By Ma/ry B* Ireland 


The keeper of a great, ancient church in Germany lives in its tower, and' 
because of her beauty, his little daughter is called the “tower angel” 

An English tourist and his wife see the child while visiting the cathedral, ; 
ind wish to adopt her. The parents spurn the offer, although it means an] 
sducation and travel for their daughter. In a few years the couple return and^ 
renew their pleadings. Because of the little girl’s evident desire to go with 
them, father and mother consent, though with great doubt and hesitation.^ 
Her experience proves bitter indeed, a few short months sufficing to prove' 
that home people and their love are better than wealth without them. 

Cloth, i2mo, illustrated, $i.oa 


The 



Violinist 



By Mary JE. Ireland 


Mignon is left an orphan, without money, relatives or home. Her one 
friend is a German baker who takes her into his home, though his shrewish^ 
wife resents his charity. Mignon's greatest treasure is a violin, and although"' 
she possesses rare talent, the baker’s wife deprives her of the instrument;^ 
After suffering many hardships, the little girl is adopted by a wealthy woman 
who recognizes her skill, and she becomes a famous musician. ^ 

Cloth, i2mo, illustrated, $i.oa ^ 



Young Voyagers 

Nile 

By 8t. George Bathbome 

‘Larry Kennedy, an American boy, is paddling 
down the Nile to Cairo, having traveled to the camp 
of Lord Kitchener because of a wager. He meets with 
a young Englishman who is searching for his uncle. 
The two boys join forces, and have many adventures 
and escapes from the wild Arabs, all of which will 
Interest the boy reader .” — American Boy, 


“Egypt and the Nile is an inexhaustible field for the writer of juvenile 
fiction, and in this story Mr. Rathbome has managed to embody acMnething 
original as well as exciting .” — Boston Transcript 


Adidft on A Junk 

By BU George Bathbome 

Julian Roxbury finds himself in Chinese waters, 
where his father, captain of a vessel, was wrecked 
seven years before. Believing his father still lives 
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phoon strikes the ship and the crew desert it, leaving 
Julian and the captain’s daughter, together with one 
old sailor alone on the vessel. 




Young Castaways 

By 8U George Bathbome 

Drifting in a leaking boat, Teddy McGregor over- 
takes a derelict, where he finds a comrade, deserted by 
the crew. They go ashore on a small island and 
encounter lawless men, from whom they seek escape in 
an unseaworthy craft. 


Each, $x.oa 


“The action is rapid and the adventures sufficiently 
exciting for the most exacting boy .” — Tfie Bookseller,. 


Mary E. IrelaLi\d Books 



Pixy’s Holiday Journey 


Timothy a.nd His Friends > 


Pixy’s Holiday Journey 

By Mary JE. Ireland 

The story of many a boy is very closely interwoven with the fortunes of 
his dog. It therefore happens that the adventures here chronicled would never 
have occurred had it not been for the dog hero, Pixy. 

When three German schoolboys plan a walking trip to Frankfort-on-the- 
Main, they decide that Pixy must form one of the party. And lucky it was for 
them that they did, for he was responsible for much of the fun they had on the 
way, for many of the adventures in the city itself, and for the good fortune 
that befell them. 

Cloth, i2mo, illustrated, $i.oo. 


Timothy and His Friends 

By Mary JE, Ireland 

A poor little newsboy in New York City is the proud owner of a dog 
aamed Grace Darling because she saved many lives in a tenement fire. His 
home being burned, he is sent to the country, dog and master being separated 
How Timothy finds his little playmate who crosses the ocean with ptui 
who Mark Ogilvie really is, will prove interesting reading to all 

Cloth, xamo, illustrated, $i.oa 


SEA TALES 

DOWN THE AMAZON 
THE YOUNG CASTAWAYS 
ADRIFT ON A JUNK 

YOUNG VOYAGERS 

OF THE NILE 

By ST. GEORGE BAXHBOBNE 

^ George Rathbome is a name that is familiar to every boy who revehi 
a adventures by sea. One fairly smells the salt breeze and hears the lapping 
i the waves as the pages of these books are eagerly turned. 

This clever inventor of adventures in strange climes for boys, carries his 
eroes to Egypt and to South America, to the Caribbean and the pirate-haunted 
Jiands of the Eastern Archipelago, does not stick at improbabilities, but has 
he true romantic and adventurous touch which boys enjoy. 


Down The Amazon 

By St. Creor^ Jiathhome 

The story of a wonderful cruise in a canvas canoe, giving the adventures 
f a sixteen-year-old American lad and a Peruvian guide, floating in an open 
anoe from the Andes country down the majestic Amazon. They encountered 
erpents, wild beasts, and wilder natives, escaped the dangers of storm and 
ood, to be wreclced at last within reach of port. 

Every line fraught with interest 

246 pages, $1.00. 



THE BRADEN BOOKS 


FAR PAST THE FRONTIER. 

By JAMES A. BRADEN 

Tlie sub-title “ Two Boy Pioneers ” indicates the nature of this 
story — that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley^ and 
the Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an 
unfailing fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a 
couple of stalwart young men who leave the East to make their 
fortunes and to incur untold dangers. 

“ Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly .” — Seattle Times. 

CONNECTICUT BOYS IN 
THE WESTERN RESERVE 

By JAMES A. BRADEN 

The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting suru 
” In all the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek their 
fortunes in the great, fertile wilderness of northern Ohio, and 
eventually achieve fair success, though their progress is hindered 
and sometimes halted by adventures innumerable. It is a lively, 
wholesome tale, never dull, and absorbmg in interest for boys who 
love the fabled life of the frontier .” — Chicago Tribune. 


THE TRAIL of THE SENECA 

By JAMES A. BRADEN 

In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and 
Return Kingdom a little farther. 

These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their^ cabin 
on the Cuyaho^ when an Indian warrior is found dead in the 
woods nearby. The Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means 
death at the stake if he is captured. They decide that the Seneca’s 
charge is made to shield himself, and set out to prove it. Mad 
Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes to their aid, but all their efforts 
prove futile and the lone cabin is found in ashes on their return. 

C A P T I V E S THREE 

By JAMES A. BRADEN 

A tale of frontier life, and how three children — two boys and a 
pirl — attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are captured 
by the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days of our 
jrreat-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling story, 

BOUND IN CLOTH, each handsomely 

illustrated, cloth, postpaid - • I ■ 


U/?e Saalfteld Vxibttshin^ Co. 

AKRON, OHIO 



FICTION FOR BOYS 


LITTL/E HHOD>Y 

By JEAN K. BAIRD 
Illustrated by R. G. Vosburgh 

At The Hall, a boys’ school, there is a set of boys 
known as the “Union of States,” to which admittance 
is gained by excelling in some particular the boys deem 
worthy of their mettle. 

Rush Petriken, a hunchback boy, comes to The Hall, 
and rooms with Barnes, the despair of the entire school 
because of his prowess in athletics. Petriken idolizes 
him, and when trouble comes to him, the poor crippled 
lad gladly shoulders the blame, and is expelled. But 
shortly before the end of the term he returns and is 
hailed as “little Rhody,” the “capitalest State of all.” 

CLOTH, IS mo, illustrated, - $1.50 


BIGELOW BOYS 

.ffy Mrs. A. F. RANSOM 
Illustrated by Henry Miller 

Four boys, all bubbling over with energy and love 
of good times, and their mother, an authoress, make 
this story of a street-car strike in one of our large 
cities move with leaps and bounds. For it is due to 
the four boys that a crowded theatre car is saved from 
being wrecked, and the instigators of the plot captured. 

Mrs. Raiu^om is widely known by her patriotic work 
among the boys in the navy, and she now proves herself 
a friend of the lads on land by writing more especially 
for them. 

CLOTH 12 mo, illustrated, - $1.50 
Books sent postpaid on receipt of price. 


Whe Saalfield IPtiblishing Co. 

AKRON, OHIO 



The 

Children’s Encyclopedia 

The young child asks of the parent explanations of the 
most simple phenomena and of the most profound 
problems. And in too many cases the parent is *' 
unable to answer. This work will overcome , 


do we dream? 


that difficulty. It tells “the reason why”^t; 
simply, plainly and fully so the child 


What is thunder? 


may understand. 

IT IS A VERITABLE ENCY- 
CLOPEDIA, ANSWERING 
QUESTIONS THAT 
ARISE DAILY IN. 

. ... . u o the home. 

What makes the rdnbow? \ b 


Whydo$ea'Shells“roar’7 

Why is the sea salt? 

Why are the lips red? 
Why have fish 


“Armed 
with this 
little manual, 
which is admirably 
indexed and profusely 
illustrated, one could 
face the most inquisitive 
stranger or even his infant son 
with perfect equanimity.” 

— San Francisco Chronicle 


fins? 


BOUND IN CLOTH, POSTPAID PRICE 25c 
BOUND IN LEATHER, POSTPAID PRICE 50c 

The S AALFIELD PUBLISHING CO 

AKRON, OHIO 


RALPH MARLOWE 

A Tale of the Buckeye State 

By 

DR. JAMES BALL NAYLOR 

Author of "THE SIGN OP THE PROPHET" 


Handsomely bound in bright red cloth, ^old lettered, 
emblematic cover design in white and gold, 12 mo., $1.50 



THE SAALFIELD 

COMPANY « « 

PUBLISHING 

« Akron, Ohio 





Dr. Naylor has con- 
structed a very readable 
story. He has been remark* 
ably succeessful In transfer- 
ring to the canvas of fiction 
Ohio farmers and village 
folk, and the story is worthy 
to take its place beside the 
best of those written in re* 
cent years which take as 
their particular task the pic- 
turing of life in rural dis- 
tricts.’* 

American Monthly Reviews 
of Rewiews. 


“There is an atmosphere 
about the story of RALPH 
MARLOWE-the picturesque 
atmosphere of quiet, rustic 
southeastern Ohio, and there 
is an equal measure of deli- 
cious humor and delicate 
pathos about It also. 

Get this novel and read it — 
T he time will be well spent.” 

— North American^ 

Philadelphia. 






FICTION FOR GIRLS 

1 

BETTY, The SCRIBE 

^/LILIAN TURNER 
Drawings by Katharine Hayward Greenland 

Betty is a brilliant, talented, impulsive seventeen-year-old girl, 
who is suddenly required to fill her mother’s place at the head of a | 
household, with a literary, impractical father to manage. 

Betty writes, too, and every time she mounts her Pegasus dis- 
aster follows for home duties are neglected. Learning of one of ; 
these lapses, her elder sister comes home. Betty storms and refuses 
to share the honors until she remembers that this means long hours 
free to devote to her beloved pen. She finally moves to the city 
to begin her career in earnest, and then — well, then comes the 
story. 

“Miss Turner is Miss Alcott’s true successor. The same healthy, 
spirited tone is visible which boys and girls recognized in LITTLE 
MEN and LITTLE WOMEN.*^ — The Bookman 

CLOTH, zamo, illustrated, • $1.50 

Elizacbeth Hobacrt 
qlI Exeter H sl 1 1 

By JEAN K. BAIRD 

Illustrated by R. G. Vosburgh 

A spirited story of erery-day boardingr-school life that gitla 
like to read. Pull of lifood times and sririish fuu. 

Elizabeth enters the school and loses no time in becoming one 
of the leading spirits. She entertains at a midnight spread, which 
is recklessly conducted under the very nose of the preceptress, who 
is “scalped” in order to be harmless, for every one Knows she 
would never venture out minus her front hair ; she champions an 
ostracized student ; and leads in a daring plan to put to rout the Se- 
niors’ program for class day. 

CLOTH, lamo, illustrated, - $1.50 
Books sent postpaid on receipt of price. 


CAe Saalfield Pubtishin^ Co., 

AKRON, OHIO 



BOOKS FOR BOYS 


i:;,: 

V 

/i 


WINFIELD SERIES : 

LARRY BARLOW’S AMBITION 
A YOUNQ INVENTOR’S PLUCK 

These two books of adventure for boys, by the popular author of the 
Rover Boys’ Series, have attained an enviable reputation, and are read by 
thousands and thousands of boys everywhere. ^ 


CASTLEMON 


SERIES : 

A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE 
WINGED ARROW’S MEDICINE 
THE FIRST CAPTURE 

Harry Castlemon ranks among the best of the writers of juvenile fiction. 
His various books are in constant and large demand by the boys who have 
learned to look for his name as author as a guaranty of a good story. 

BONEHILL SERIES: 

THE BOY LAND BOOMER 
THREE YOUNG RANCHMEN 

Stories of western life that are full of adventure, which read as if they hap- 
pened day before yesterday. 

RATHBORNE SERIES: 

DOWN THE AMAZON 
ADRIFT ON A JUNK 
YOUNG VOYAGERS OP THE NILE 
YOUNG CASTAWAYS 

For boys who have had their fill of adventures on land, the Rathbornh 
books are ever welcome. They make one feel the salt breeze, and hear the 
shouts of the sailor boys. 


OTIS SERIES: 

TEDDY 

TELEGRAPH TOM 


MESSENGER No. 48 
DOWN THE SLOPE 


James Otis writes for wide-awake American boys, and his audience read 
his tales with keen appreciation. 


Each of the above books bound In Cloth, 
Illustrated, 12 ni 03 , postpaid, • - 


$ 1.00 


^he ScLctlfietd Ptibtishtn^ 


AKRON 


OHIO 



FLOWER BABIES 



VERSES 

BY 

ELIZABETH 

MAY 


ILLUSTRA- 
TIONS BY 

IDA MAY 
ROCKWELL 


One Hundred Flowers Shown in Their 
Natural Colors 

Each one of the hundred pages in Flower Babies carries 
a verse about children and flowers. The drawing on the 
page bears out the flower idea, showing the blossoms in the 
beautiful colors Nature gives them as they grow. 

There is so much genuine love in the way these verses 
and pictures speak that the book has won the warmest of 
welcomes from the children. 


WHAT OTHERS THINK 

' The idea of the book is good — to familiarize children with the 
common flowers.”— Yeri Glebe. 

" Its brilliancy of color would be sufficient to attract the childish eye 
were it not in its versified text amusing and clever.”— Transtripu 


Quarto, Bound in Boards, Every Page in Colors. 
Postpaid Price, $1.25 


The Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, owo 




Ws 

Peter Rabbit Series 


TWELVE 

NURSERY 

FAVORITES 



PUTIN 

ATTRACTIVE 

DRESS 


The nursery stories that have been told for centurieh 
past and which will be repeated to wondering children for 
generations to come, have been made into handsome booKS. 
Besides the old, old tales, there is the popular Peter Rabbit, 
and a sequel has been written to it with the same master 
touch that so charms every child. 

There are twelve full -page illustrations in each volume 
in colors, and each book has a beautiful lining paper with 
appropriate design. The covers are different for each book, 
and all lithographed in four colors. 


TITLES 


PETER RABBIT 

PETER RABBIT AND HIS PA 

UTTLE RED RIDING-HOOD 

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 

CINDERELLA 

OLD MOTHER HUBBARD 


THE THREE BEARS 

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT 

TOM THUMB 

BABY’S BIBLE ABC 

MOTHER GOOSE 

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 


Each Bound in Boards, 6)^ x 7 inches. Illustrated 
in Colors, Postpaid Price 25c. 


The Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, owo 



We 

BiLLYWfflSKERS SERIES 

BY 

FRANCES TREGO MONTGOMERY 

Billy Whiskers — frolicsome, mischief-making, adven- 
ture-loving Billy Whiskers — is the friend of every boy and 
girl the country over, and the things that happen to this 
wonderful goat and his numerous animal friends make the 
best sort of reading for them. 

As one reviewer aptly puts it, these stories are **just 
full of fun and good times, for Mrs. Montgomery, the 
author of them, has the happy faculty of knowing what the 
small boy and his sister like ^.n the way of fiction. 

TITLES 

BILLY WHISKERS BILLY WHISKERS’ GRANDCHILDREN 

BILLY WHISKERS’ KIDS BILLY WHISKERS’ VACATION 

BILLY WHISKERS, JR. BILLY WHISKERS KIDNAPED 

BILLY WHISKERS’ TRAVELS BILLY WHISKERS’ TWINS 

BILLY WHISKERS AT THE CIRCUS BILLY WHISKERS IN AN AEROPUNE 

BILLY WHISKERS AT THE FAIR BILLY WHISKERS IN TOWN 

BILLY WHISKERS’ FRIENDS BILLY WHISKERS IN PANAMA 

BILLY WHISKERS, JR. AND HIS CHUMS 

Each Volume a Quarto, Bound in Boards, Cover and Six 
Full Page Drawings in Colors, Postpaid Price $1.00 

The Saalfield Publishing Co Akron, Ohio 





MA%Y ‘BYRNE’S BOOKS 


THE FAIRY CHASER. 

“Telling of two boys who go into the vegetable and 
flower-raising business instead of humdrum commercial pur- 
suits. The characters and situations are realistic.” 

—PHILADELPHIA TELEGRAPH 

LITTLE DAME TROT 

One of the most pleasing of juveniles, made pathetic 
by the strength with which the author pictures the central 
figure, a little girl made miserable by her mother’s strict 
adherence to a pet “ method ” of training, 

THE LITTLE WOMAN IN THE SPOUT 

“ This pleasing story may have been developed from 
real life, from real children, so true a picture does it por- 
tray of girlish life and sports.” 

—GRAND RAPIDS HERALD 

ROY AND ROSYROCKS 

A glowing Christmas tale, fresh and natural in situa- 
tions, that will interest both boys and girls. 

It tells how two poor children anticipate the joys of the 
holiday, and how heartily they enter into doing their part 
to make the day merry for themselves and others. 

Bach of the above bound in Cloth illustrated, z2mo, $.60 

PEGGY-ALONE 

The chronicles of the Happy-Gc-Luckys, a crowd of 
girls who did not depend upon riches for good times. This 
club was very stretchible as to membership, so they elected 
Peggy-Alone from pity of her loneliness. Freed from 
governess, nurse and solicitous mother, she has the jolliest 
summer of her life. 

CLOTH, i2mo, illustrated by Anna B. Craig, - $1.25 

BOOKS SENT PREPAID ON RECEIPT OF PRICE 


"Ghe Saatfietd Pttblishinj^ Co, 

AKRON, OHIO 





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